''Libralces'' was a genus of Eurasian deer that lived during the
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Megaloceros''.
''Libralces'' fossils have been found from France to Tajikistan, with the best-known examples being the French ''L. gallicus''.
According to Jordi Agustí, ''Libralces'' was the ancestor of ''Megaloceros'', though most other authorities regard it as a relative of moose, ''
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 mal ...
''.
In the Pleistocene, there were three genera of
Holarctic
The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...
moose-like deer — ''
Cervalces
''Cervalces'' is an extinct deer genus that lived during the Pliocene and 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, ...
'', ''Alces'', and ''Libralces''. In contrast to modern ''Alces'', the
Villafranchian
Villafranchian age ( ) is a period of geologic time (3.5–1.0 Ma) spanning the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene used more specifically with European Land Mammal Ages. Named by Italian geologist Lorenzo Pareto for a sequence of terrestrial se ...
''Libralces gallicus'' had very long-beamed, small-palmed antlers and a generalized skull with moderately reduced nasals; the
Nearctic
The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface.
The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...
''Cervalces'' had longer nasals and more complex antlers than ''Libralces''.
Azzaroli 1953 added ''Alces latiforns'' to ''Libralces'', but this position has been challenged. ''L. latifrons'' is now considered a synonym of '' Cervalces latifrons''.