12/10/2023 0 Comments Irish elk antlersThe species is thought to be descended from M. matritensis fossils are found associated to stone tools of late Acheulean and early Mousterian type. The species itself formed part of the diet of people which lived in the area. The species had enlarged premolars, very thick molar enamel, and a low mandibular condyle. matritensis Mid-Pleistocene species, lived around 300-400 ka near present-day Madrid, Spain, being contemporary with M. It is suggested to have been a mixed feeder or grazer. Has been suggested to comprise the separate genus Praedama. The lowermost prongs near the base were palmate. Its antlers were straight, with thorn-like prongs. savini Mid-Pleistocene species, slightly larger than a caribou, first fossils found near Sainte Savine, France and near Soria, Spain. The antlers were more compact, and the tines near the base large and palmate. giganteus, to the point where it is often regarded as a paleosubspecies of the latter. Known from antlers, teeth and postcranial material. novocarthaginiensis Described from the latest Early Pleistocene 0.9-0.8 Ma of Cueva Victoria in Spain. luochuanensis Early to Mid-Pleistocene species in the Shaanxi Loess of China, alternatively considered a species of Sinomegaceros. Has subsequently been suggested to belong to Arvernoceros instead. stavropolensis Early Pleistocene species from Southwestern Russia. savini and related taxa ( novocarthaginiensis and matritensis) are split into the separate genus Praedama by some scholars. 2006).Īlthough sometimes synonymized with Megaloceros, Praemegaceros, Sinomegaceros and Megaceroides are apparently generically distinct. The genus was part of a Late Neogene Eurasian radiation of fallow deer relatives of which today only two taxa remain.(Lister et al. rhopalophorus was just 65 cm (26 in) high at the shoulder – are sometimes included in Megaloceros as a subgenus.ĭespite its name, the Irish elk was neither restricted to Ireland nor closely related to either species commonly referred to as elk ( Alces alces in British English and other European languages Cervus canadensis in North American English) but instead is closely related to the fallow deer genus Dama. The various species of the Cretan genus Candiacervus – the smallest of which, C. They are the most cursorial deer known, with most species averaging slightly below 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) at the withers. Most members of the genus were extremely large animals that favoured meadows or open woodlands. Fallow deer are thought to be their closest living relatives. The type and only certain member of the genus, Megaloceros giganteus, vernacularly known as the "Irish elk" or "giant elk", is also the best known. Megaloceros (from Greek: μεγαλος megalos + κερας keras, literally "Great Horn" see also Lister (1987)) is an extinct genus of deer whose members lived throughout Eurasia from the early Pleistocene to the early Holocene.
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