Megaloceros

Megaloceros
Temporal range: late Early Pleistocene to Middle Holocene
~1.2–0.0077 Ma
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Skeleton of Megaloceros giganteus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Tribe: Cervini
Genus: †Megaloceros
Brookes, 1828
Species
Synonyms
  • Megaceros (Owen, 1844)

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 Pleistocene to the early Holocene. The type and only undisputed member of the genus, Megaloceros giganteus, vernacularly known as the "Irish elk" or "giant deer", is also the best known. Fallow deer are thought to be their closest living relatives.[1][2][3] Megaloceros has been suggested to be closely related to other genera of "giant deer", like the East Asian genus Sinomegaceros, and the European Praemegaceros.

  1. ^ Lister, A. M., Edwards, C. J., Nock, D. A. W., Bunce, M., van Pijlen, I. A., Bradley, D. G., Thomas, M. G. & Barnes, I. 2005. The phylogenetic position of the 'giant deer' Megaloceros giganteus. Nature 438, 850-853.
  2. ^ Mennecart, B., deMiguel, D., Bibi, F., Rössner, G. E., Métais, G., Neenan, J. M., Wang, S., Schulz, G., Müller, B. & Costeur, L. 2017. Bony labyrinth morphology clarifies the origin and evolution of deer. Scientific Reports 7: 13176.
  3. ^ Gonzalez, S., Kitchener, A. C. & Lister, A. M. 2000. Survival of the Irish elk into the Holocene. Nature 405, 753-754.