Megaloceros (Megaloceros giganteus)

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Cervidae

Megaloceros giganteus was a giant deer that evolved during the glacial periods of the Pleistocene epoch 250,000 to 12,000 years ago. The largest deer species ever, Megaloceros stood between 6.5 and 8 feet at the shoulder. The scientific name literally meaning "large horn" was derived from the fossilized remains of its antlers that spanned as much as 10 to 13 feet across and weighed as much as 100 pounds each. Its habitat ranged throughout Europe, northern Asia, and northern Africa, and fossils of a related form have been found in China.

Megaloceros was among the animals that managed to colonize the British Isles during the short space of time between ice and island before melting glaciers closed off any existing routes to mainland Europe. Often referred to as the "Giant Irish Elk," this deer has a misleading description for it is neither exclusively Irish nor an elk but rather a giant extinct deer. The name "Irish" has stuck because of the numerous well-preserved fossil skulls that have been found in lake sediments and peat bogs of Ireland. Such skulls, with their enormous antler racks, have become prized wall adornments of hunting lodges and castles throughout Ireland. Although their skulls are common in Ireland, the most complete skeleton ever found was excavated at the other end of Europe near the Russian town of Sapozhka. This magnificent skeleton is currently on display at the Paleontological Institute in Moscow.

Like modern deer, Megaloceros probably had to shed its antlers each year, often leaving the buck with an awkward lop-sided appearance as one antler would fall before the other. Its life-style may have been very similar to that of modern deer species in the way it established dominance among the herd through a series of duels and antler displays. The vast size of a seasoned buck's antlers along with his thick neck muscles may have been sufficient to detour other less-developed bucks from challenging his authority, saving him from the risk of injury that may occur during duels.

There are several cave paintings in France and elsewhere in Europe that are believed to depict the Megaloceros. It may have been a popular prey animal for early hunters who would have depended on its large amounts of flesh to feed their families during long ice age winters. During rutting season, the buck's large antlers would have restricted its habitat to the open plains and areas of low shrubbery. Its antlers may have been a liability by making them easy to spot by wandering predators and human hunting parties. Such large racks may have even hindered the buck's escape by preventing it from seeking cover in wooded areas where its antlers could have become entangled in branches and high shrubbery.

Megaloceros became extinct at the end of the last ice age. It is believed to have died out because it was unable to adapt to the subarctic conditions after the final retreat of the ice sheet. The last one in Ireland is believed to have disappeared around 11,000 years ago, but dwindling herds may have survived in continental Europe into historic times as recently as 500 B.C.

Its massive size and exaggerated antlers gave Megaloceros a unique appearance. These distinct characteristics are of great significance to paleontologists and have made Megaloceros the topic of evolutionary debates down through the years.

Additional information courtesy of Nigel Monaghan, Keeper, Natural history Museum of Ireland, Merrion Street, Dublin 2, Ireland

 THE GIANT IRISH DEER

The giant Irish deer, sometimes incorrectly referred to as the "Irish elk", had the largest antler span of any known deer, living or extinct. The antlers on the males have been measured along the curvature at up to four metres. The deer were almost two metres tall at the shoulder, andwould have weighed up to 800-900 kilos. These magnificent animals originated in Asia and migrated northwards following the retreating ice sheets during the warmer phases of the Ice Age, reaching this country about 37,000 years ago.At that time Ireland was connected through Britain to mainland Europe by land bridges. These were areas of sea floor exposed by the lowering of sea level which was due to large amounts of water being locked up in the ice sheets of the northern hemisphere. When the ice melted the rise in sea level isolated the Irish population of giant deer which thrived on grasses and shrubs which grew on a landscape recently abandoned by the ice.

Like most living deer the male and female giant Irish deer would have lived in separate herds for much of the year, congregating only for the autumn rut. The males spent this time competing with each other for females with which to mate. A modern study of antler design and materials suggests that their antlers were used in combat from time to time. As with living deer it is probable that more time would have been spent in displays to intimidate rivals and impress females.

The male deer often entered the winter undernourished and in poor condition, sheltering in such narrow steep-sided valleys as that at Ballybetagh, Co. Dublin. Here several males died each year on the shores of a shallow lake where their bones would have been trampled by other deer and gnawed by animals such as the Arctic fox before becoming buried in the lake muds. At Ballybetagh the remains of at least 120 individuals have been discovered, all of them males. Female giant deer are much rarer fossils in museums, partly because of their lack of the antlers which attract a collector's attention to the male specimens.

The giant Irish deer were contemporaneous with reindeer, and red deer but had a diet that was probably more dependent on coarse vegetation. Scratches on their teeth suggest a diet rich in grasses. The only threat to giant deer in Ireland would have been from wolves which would have preyed on sickly individuals and calves. Certainly the abundance of giant deer in Ireland compared with the rest of Europe suggests that conditions here were ideal. This abundance also reflects the fact that most remains are found buried in sediments beneath a layer of peat which led to their discovery as the turf was collected for fuel. These lake clays are between 12,100 and 10,600 years old and belong to a period of time known to geologists as the Woodgrange Interstadial. This was a relatively warm period towards the end of the Ice Age when climate would have been similar to that of today.

Giant deer remains have also been found in a number of Irish caves, along with bones of reindeer, woolly mammoth, hyena and other members of the Ice Age fauna. These cave remains have now been studied in detail and a series of radiocarbon dates shows that giant deer were in Ireland from 37,000 to 32,000 years ago and again from 11,750 to 10,950 years ago. These dates fit with a pattern of changing climates with warm periods like today broken by very cold conditions lasting for several thousand years at a time.

For many years it was thought that the final extinction of the giant Irish deer came about 10,600 years ago or so when a cold phase of climate lasting over 400 years caused changes in the vegetation of this island. In June 2000 new radiocarbon dates from sites in Scotland and the Isle of Man showed that in some places they had survived this cold climate phase for short period. With the changes in vegetation caused by climate change it became increasingly difficult for the deer to obtain sufficient food to build their large bodies, grow antlers which were shed annually, and build up fat reserves sufficient to survive the winter. The giant deer may have been known to the Palaeolithic painters of the cave of Cougnac, in France but they became extinct in Ireland before people are known to have arrived. It is possible that the last animals were wiped out by Mesolithic hunters about 9,000 years ago but there is no direct evidence for overlap of giant deer and people in Ireland or Britain, at least not yet.

The giant deer has been known from remains found in Irish bogs since the sixteenth century. It was first mentioned in print in 1596 when a skull with antlers was transported to Hatfield House in England and recorded in the State Papers. The original drawing of this specimen is in the Museum's archives, it was sketched by Chancellor Adam Loftus in 1588. The first scientific description of giant Irish deer was by Thomas Molyneux in 1697, but it was 1813 before the animal was scientifically named by Blumenbach. It is now known as Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach). The National Museum of Ireland has almost two hundred specimens of skulls and antlers in its collections. This great scientific resource is consulted regularly and is used to study the way these animals lived and to answer various questions about their extinction.

The specimens in the National Museum of Ireland are from all over the country. There are three skeletons on display in the Natural History Museum, two of males and one of a female. The skeleton from Lough Naglack, Co. Monaghan was presented to the museum by the Fourth Marquis of Bath in October 1877. The antler span is 3.5 metres, the top of the skull is 2.3 metres above the ground and the height to tip of the highest tine is 3 metres. The skeleton from Rathcannon, Co. Limerick was presented to the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society by the Rev. William Wray Maunsell, Archdeacon of Limerick in April 1824. It was assembled and described by John Hart, a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The skeleton of the female from Lough Gur, Co. Limerick was purchased from William Hinchy in about 1867. In October 1999 a series of stamps of extinct Irish animals was issued by An Post. These show the giant Irish deer in an Irish landscape of about 30,000 years ago. Other animals in the series include brown bear, wolf and woolly mammoth. Fact sheets on these animals are also available.

Any specific enquiries about giant deer or other fossils can be addressed to the Natural History Division, National Museum of Ireland, Merrion Street, Dublin 2. Contact us by telephone (01) 677-7444 or 1890-687-386 (lo-call) or by e-mail at: naturalhistory@museum.ie