''Sinomegaceros'' is an extinct genus of deer known from the Early to Late

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 ...

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 probable close relationship to ''

Megaloceros ''Megaloceros'' (from Greek: + , literally "Great Horn"; see also Lister (1987)) is an extinct genus of deer whose members lived throughout Eurasia from the early Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene and were important herbivores durin ...

''. Many members of the genus are noted for their distinctive palmate antler brow tines.

Taxonomy

The first species of the genus ''S. ordosianus'' and ''S. pachyosteus'' were named by pioneering Chinese paleontologist

C. C. Young Clement Calhoun Young (April 28, 1869 – December 24, 1947) was an American educator and politician who was affiliated with the original Progressive Party (United States, 1912), Progressive Party and later the United States Republican Party, R ...

as species of ''

Cervus ''Cervus'' is a genus of deer that primarily are native to Eurasia, although one species occurs in northern Africa and another in North America. In addition to the species presently placed in this genus, it has included a whole range of other sp ...

'' in 1932 for material from

Zhoukoudian Zhoukoudian Area () is a town and an area located on the east Fangshan District, Beijing, China. It borders Nanjiao and Fozizhuang Townships to its north, Xiangyang, Chengguan and Yingfeng Subdistricts to its east, Shilou and Hangcunhe Towns to ...

. In a review of the paper the subsequent year Dietrich created the name ''Sinomegaceros'' 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 ...

of ''Cervus'' to house the species, with ''S. pachyosteus'' as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. Due to the fact that the name was not published in a formal research paper, it was not widely used for several decades after publication. The species ''S. yabei'' was named in 1938. In the following decades various researchers considered it a subgenus of ''Megaloceros'', or a distinct genus. Several named species are likely to be junior synonyms. The best known species are ''Sinomegaceros yabei'' from the Middle to Late Pleistocene of Japan, alongside ''Sinomegaceros pachyosteus'' from the late Early Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene of China.

Evolution

The oldest known species in China is ''S. konwanlinensis'' from the lower Lishui Formation, around 1.1-1.15 Million years ago (Ma). ''S. pachyosteus'' appears around 1 Ma. Among the youngest known dates of ''S. ordosianus'' are around 35-50 kya in the Ordos. ''S. yabei'' first appears in the latter half of the Middle Pleistocene in Japan. It has been suggested that both ''S. pachyosteus'' and ''S. yabei'' ultimately derive from ''S. konwanlinensis.'' While often stated to have become extinct around 12,000 years ago, a lack of high-quality radiocarbon dates makes the time of extinction uncertain for ''S. yabei,'' and it may have become extinct thousands of years earlier during or prior to the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent. Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eur ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q57081337 Cervinae Pleistocene mammals of Asia Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera