''Dicrocerus elegans'' (Its name is Greek for "fork antler") is an extinct species of deer found in France, Europe (related species in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

). ''Dicrocerus'' probably came from Asia, from the region where true deer are believed to have originated and evolved. It inhabited forests in the temperate belt and in Europe it was typical of the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

(15-5 million years ago). It died out at the beginning of

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

. Its long

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...

sported a set of

antler Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on males ...

s with a thickened base - the first known member of

cervid Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

s to possess them. The antlers were still quite primitive and had no tines; they were worn only by the males. Like modern deer, ''Dicrocerus'' shed its antlers every year. The main stem was shorter in each new set. The same is seen in modern

muntjac Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

Gallery

Dicrocerus elegans MHNT.PRE.2012.0.jpg, ''Dicrocerus elegans'' Collection

Lartet Lartet is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Édouard Lartet (1801–1871), French geologist and paleontologist * Louis Lartet Louis Lartet (1840 – 1899) was a French geologist and paleontologist. He discovered the or ...

MHNT Dicrocerus browsing 01.JPG, Artist impression of ''Dicrocerus''. Dicrocerus furcatus.JPG, Horns from the species ''D. furcatus'' (now placed in ''

Euprox ''Euprox'' is an extinct genus of deer that lived in Eurasia during the Miocene. Taxonomy The type species ''Euprox furcatus'' was originally under the genus ''Prox'', but that name was preoccupied. Depéret assigned it to the related genus '' D ...

'').

References

* Benes, Josef. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Pg. 240. Prague: Artua, 1979. Prehistoric deer Miocene mammals of Europe Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera Miocene even-toed ungulates Fossil taxa described in 1837 Mammals described in 1837 {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub