Irish elk
- Also called:
- Irish deer or giant deer
- Related Topics:
- Pleistocene Epoch
- fossil
- extinction
- Megacerine
Irish elk, (Megaloceros giganteus), extinct species of deer, characterized by immense body size and wide antlers, commonly found as fossils in Pleistocene deposits in Europe and Asia (the Pleistocene Epoch began 2.6 million years ago and ended about 11,700 years ago). Despite its distribution throughout Eurasia, the species was most abundant in Ireland. Although several other species of Megaloceros are known, the Irish elk was the largest. It was about the size of the modern moose (Alces alces) and had the largest antlers of any form of deer known—in some specimens, 4 metres (about 13 feet) across. The antlers differed from those of the modern deer: the main part was a massive single sheet from which arose a series of pointed projections, or tines.
Many scientists contend that the Irish elk succumbed to starvation and went extinct during the most recent ice age; however, fossils of M. giganteus uncovered in Siberia have been dated to approximately 7,000–8,000 years ago, a period characterized by warm temperatures.