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The Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus), [1] [2] also called the giant deer or Irish deer, is an extinct species of deer in the genus Megaloceros and is one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across Eurasia during the Pleistocene , from Ireland (where it is known from abundant remains found in bogs) to Lake Baikal in Siberia .
The genus Megaloceros is widely agreed to belong the subfamily Cervinae. [12] Megaloceros has often been placed in the tribe Megacerini, alongside other "giant deer" genera like Sinomegaceros and Praemegaceros, though the taxonomy regarding giant deer as whole is uncertain and contested. [11]
The extinct Irish elk (Megaloceros) was not a member of the genus Cervus but rather the largest member of the wider deer family (Cervidae) known from the fossil record. [11] Until recently, red deer and elk were considered to be one species, Cervus elaphus, [5] [12] with over a dozen subspecies.
Megaceroides algericus is an extinct species of deer known from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene of North Africa. It is one of only two species of deer known to have been native to the African continent, alongside the Barbary stag, a subspecies of red deer. [1] It is considered to be closely related to the giant deer species of Eurasia.
English: Range of Megaloceros giganteus during the Late Pleistocene, based on location data from "The extinction of the giant deer Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach): New radiocarbon evidence", with modification based on "The Exceptional Presence of Megaloceros giganteus in North-Eastern Iberia and Its Palaeoecological Implications: The Case of Teixoneres Cave (Moià, Barcelona, Spain ...
Megaloceros giganteus. The extinct cervid Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus) reached over 2.1 m (7 ft) in height, 680 kg (1,500 lb) in mass and could have antlers spanning up to 4.3 m (14 ft) across, about twice the maximum span for a moose's antlers.
Fallow deer were introduced in Norman times, and now have a population up to 60,000 in the wild. Sika deer were introduced in Powerscourt park in 1860, escaped from captivity, and now number up to 50,000. Scottish roe deer were introduced to the Lissadell Estate in County Sligo around 1870 by Sir Henry Gore-Booth. [6]
The average sized Cervalces latifrons was quite a bit more massive than other large moose-like deer, such Cervalces scotti, the largest races of the extant moose and the Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus), despite some overlap in shoulder height, and is the largest deer ever known to exist.