alphynix:Megaloceros giganteus, the giant deer — often referred to as the “Irish elk”, despite being
alphynix:Megaloceros giganteus, the giant deer — often referred to as the “Irish elk”, despite being neither exclusively Irish nor closely related to any actual elk. Living in Eurasia between around 780,000 years ago and 7,700 years ago, it was one of the largest ever species of deer. Its body size matched that of the modern Alaskan moose, standing about 2.1m (6.9ft) tall at the shoulder.The males sported the biggest antlers of any known deer, with the largest specimens measuring 3.65m (12ft) from tip to tip and weighing 40kg (88lb). This huge headgear likely evolved as a result of both sexual selection and allometric scaling, differences in body part growth rates at different body sizes. As a deer’s body size is scaled up its antlers grow proportionally much bigger compared to its body size, and Megaloceros seems to have taken this to the extreme.Megaloceros is also a common element in ancient cave art. Multiple depictions show a hump on the shoulders and dark stripes down the sides, giving us some idea of what this animal actually looked like in life. -- source link