Megaloceros

Reconstruction of some types of Megaloceros

Megaloceros (also giant deer ) was a genus of very large deer that lived during the time of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene in Eurasia and northern Africa.

Distribution and species

One of the early types was Megaloceros obscurus from the lower Pleistocene. He was the first type of line that led to the known Megaloceros giganteus. Megaloceros giganteus appeared about 400,000 years ago and died at the end of the last ice age from. His remains are found from North Africa and Western Europe to Siberia and China.

Numerous finds are from Irish bogs, also from Germany a number of findings have been reported. The type occurred in both the cold periods as well as in the warmer interglacial periods. The shows may notice that the animal also found in forested regions make a living and not, as sometimes supposed to steppe areas dependent was. In the coldest sections of the cold periods, the species is, however, rarely happened in Central Europe or missing entirely.

In Europe, the giant deer died already from 11,500 years ago and was then probably limited to Siberia. In Western Siberia the species apparently survived until the early Holocene and died out only about 7600 years ago. North America has never reached Megaloceros.

Way of life

Megaloceros malnourished in contrast to the moose, which is a typical leaf -eaters, especially of grasses. It is assumed that he, like many of today's larger ungulates lived in similar groups, and that the male giant deer as deer today have among themselves discharged ritualized fights.

Description

Giganteus The most familiar type Megaloceros had a shoulder height of about 2 meters, and reached the size of a moose today, but was considerably easier and long-legged built. The antlers, which carried only the males, surpassed in size the antlers of all deer today. It reached a wingspan of 3.60 meters and was one of the biggest forehead weapons that brought the Artiodactyla. He could not, as all of today's deer, the huge antlers shed each year and rebuild. Contrary to some reports Megaloceros giganteus was not the largest deer of all time. Today's elk, especially the large shapes in Alaska, surpass him a lot of weight to some extent. Extinct giant forms like the Breitstirnelch (Alces latifrons ) were with weights of up to 1400 kg significantly heavier.

Since Megaloceros giganteus found on numerous cave drawings of Pleistocene humans, it can be assumed that he played a role in the hunting of early humans in Europe. In these pictures he is shown with a dark brown back and a whitish breast, so that one can assume that these were the actual coat colors of this giant deer. In some of the drawings, a triangular structure in the shoulder area can be seen. The skeleton of Megaloceros shows in the shoulder region similar to the elk individually different degrees of extension of the spinous processes, which served with great probability as an additional attachment point for muscles to carry the heavy antlers. A similar vortex formed by foothills shoulder hump is also found in the extinct Breitstirnelch, who also had an extremely heavy antlers. Cave drawings show this area particularly pronounced, which is why he may have been increased by adding fat or muscle mass. In contrast to the fat humps of camels or the shoulder hump of the zebu, which consists only of soft tissues, however, he was supported by bone.

Not all types of Megaloceros species were very large, it has developed similarly as in other species of the Pleistocene island also dwarf forms. Megaloceros cazioti from Corsica and Sardinia, which emerged from verticornis Megaloceros, reached only about one meter shoulder height and had a greatly reduced antlers. Megaloceros cretensis from Crete was even smaller, measuring only 60 inches at the shoulder. With his short antlers, he looked more like a muntjac.

According to recent genetic analysis is likely the closest living relatives of Megaloceros the fallow deer, and not, as long suspected the deer to be. With the elk the giant deer is not closely related, although one could assume this because of the shovel antlers.

Extinction

Earlier it was assumed that the giant deer as a result of reforestation at the end of the last ice age became extinct because he got caught with his large antlers on the run between the trees. This idea is somewhat naive, since there are open steppes in Eurasia today. Absurd is also the theory that animals are the only reason extinct because their antlers became large. Frequently, the possibility is discussed that the giant deer at the end of the Pleistocene, when changed the vegetation, the nutrients to build the horns no longer had sufficiently available. As A. J. Stuart (2004) showed from the Institute of Biology of the University College in London, the giant deer in western Siberia has survived 3000 years longer than previously thought. For him and his team that is a proof that the reasons for the extinction of individual species are more complex. So there is little evidence that the antlers at the end of the Pleistocene were smaller. The extinction of the giant deer is the most conducive related to a combination of human adjustments and changes in vegetation. The giant deer was a highly successful way over hundreds of thousands of years and died along with several other animal species during the Quaternary extinctions.