''Megaloceros'' (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: + , literally "Great Horn"; see also Lister (1987)) is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

deer 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 re ...

whose members lived throughout

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

from the early

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

to the beginning of the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

and were important

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

s during the

Ice Ages An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

. The largest species, ''

Megaloceros giganteus The Irish elk (''Megaloceros giganteus''), also called the giant deer or Irish deer, is an extinct species of deer in the genus '' Megaloceros'' and is one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across Eurasia Eurasia ( ...

'', vernacularly known as the "Irish elk" or "giant elk", is also the best known.

Fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes ...

are thought to be their closest living relatives. ''Megaloceros'' is part of the

family which includes

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

, and other cervids.

Biology

Most members of the genus were extremely large animals that favoured meadows or open woodlands. They are the most

cursorial A cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast (e.g. cheetah) or if it can keep a constant speed for a long distance (high endurance). "Cursorial" is often us ...

deer known, with most species averaging slightly below at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle a ...

. The various species of the

Cretan Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, an ...

genus ''

Candiacervus ''Candiacervus'' is an extinct genus of deer native to Pleistocene Crete. Due to a lack of other herbivores, the genus underwent an adaptive radiation, filling niches occupied by other taxa on the mainland. Due to the small size of Crete, the gen ...

'' – the smallest of which, ''C. rhopalophorus'' was just high at the shoulder – are sometimes included in ''Megaloceros'' as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

Despite its name, the Irish elk was neither restricted to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

nor closely related to either species commonly referred to as

(''

Alces alces The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult male ...

'' in British English and other European languages; ''

Cervus canadensis The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The comm ...

'' in North American English) but instead is closely related to the

fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes ...

genus '' Dama''. The genus was part of a Late Neogene Eurasian radiation of fallow deer relatives of which today only two taxa remain.(Lister ''et al.'' 2005, Hughes ''et al.'' 2006). Although sometimes synonymized with ''Megaloceros'', ''

Praemegaceros ''Praemegaceros'' is an extinct genus of deer, known from the Pleistocene and Holocene of Western Eurasia. It contains the subgenera ''Praemegaceros,'' ''Orthogonoceros'' and ''Nesoleipoceros''. It has sometimes been synonymised with '' Megalocer ...

'', ''

Sinomegaceros ''Sinomegaceros'' is an extinct genus of deer known from the Early to Late Pleistocene of Central and East Asia. It is considered to be part of the group of "giant deer" (often referred to collectively as members of the tribe Megacerini), with a ...

'' and ''

Megaceroides ''Megaceroides algericus'' is an extinct species of deer known from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene of North Africa. It is one of only two species of deer known to have been native to the African continent, alongside the Barbary stag, a subs ...

'' are apparently generically distinct. ''M. savini'' and related taxa (''novocarthaginiensis'' and ''matritensis)'' are split into the separate genus ''Praedama'' by some scholars.

Species

Ordered from oldest to youngest: ;''M. stavropolensis'' :Early Pleistocene species from Southwestern Russia. Has subsequently been suggested to belong to '' Arvernoceros'' instead. ;''M. luochuanensis'' :Early to Mid-Pleistocene species in the

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

Loess of China. ;''M. novocarthaginiensis'' : Described from the latest Early Pleistocene 0.9-0.8 Ma of Cueva Victoria in Spain. Known from antlers, teeth and postcranial material. ;''M. antecedens'' :Very similar to ''M. giganteus'', to the point where it is often regarded as a

paleosubspecies A chronospecies is a species derived from a sequential development pattern that involves continual and uniform changes from an extinct ancestral form on an evolutionary scale. The sequence of alterations eventually produces a population that is p ...

of the latter. The antlers were more compact, and the

tines Tines (; also spelled tynes), prongs or teeth are parallel or branching spikes forming parts of a tool or natural object. They are used to spear, hook, move or otherwise act on other objects. They may be made of metal, wood, bone or other hard, ...

near the base large and palmate. Lived in Mid-Pleistocene

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

;''M. savini'' :Mid-Pleistocene species, slightly larger than a caribou, first fossils found near Sainte Savine,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and near

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Its antlers were straight, with thorn-like prongs. The lowermost prongs near the base were palmate. Has been suggested to comprise the separate genus ''Praedama''. ;''M. matritensis'' :Mid-Pleistocene species, lived around 300-400 ka near present-day Madrid, Spain, being contemporary with ''M. giganteus''. The species had enlarged premolars, very thick molar enamel, and a low mandibular condyle. The species itself formed part of the diet of people which lived in the area. ''M. matritensis'' fossils are found associated to stone tools of late

Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French ''acheuléen'' after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated ...

and early

Mousterian The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the l ...

type. The species is thought to be descended from ''M. savini'' ;'' M. giganteus'' :Largest, best known, and among the last species of the genus that stands about at the shoulders. Lived throughout

, from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

during the last ice age. ;'' Megaceroides algericus'' :From the Late Pleistocene to Holocene of North Africa has been considered to be closely related and possibly derived from ''Megaloceros.''

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3544136 Cervinae Prehistoric deer Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera Pleistocene even-toed ungulates Pleistocene genus extinctions Pleistocene first appearances Pleistocene mammals of Asia Pleistocene mammals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1828

Biology

Species

References

Further reading

External links