One is that climate change was primary the other claims that hunting by man was primary. Theories about the extinction of ice age megafauna are of two kinds.

giganteus did not even have to turn its head to present the antlers to best effect, but could do this by simply looking straight ahead. Although they were ill-suited for combat between males, they were ideal to intimidate rivals or impress females. Gould concluded that the large antler size and their position on the skull was very much maintained by sexual selection. This suggests that the antlers of the species' ancestors were already large to begin with. This is due to allometry, or differential growth rate of body size and antler size during development. Larger deer species have antlers that are more than proportionately larger. The Irish Elk is no different in that respect. Also, many other Pleistocene megafauna went extinct within a few thousand years of the end of the ice age. This is simply nonsense, because no species survives that long if it is not effective in its habitat. It was also suggested that they eventually became so unwieldy that the Irish Elk could not carry on the normal business of life and so became extinct. One theory was that their antlers, under constant and strong sexual selection, increased in size because males were using them in combat for access to females. The size of Irish Elk antlers is distinctive, and several theories have arisen as to their evolution. giganteus skeletons can be found at the Natural History Museum in Dublin.Įvolution of antler size The Irish Elk got to a mass of about 450–600 kg (990–1,320 lb), with large specimens having weighed 700 kg (1,540 lb) or more, roughly similar to the Alaskan Moose. In body size, the Irish Elk matched the living moose subspecies ( Alces alces gigas) as the largest known deer. It stood about 2.1 metres (6.9 ft) tall at the shoulders, and had the largest antlers of any known deer (a maximum of 3.65 m (12.0 ft) from tip to tip and weighing up to 40 kg (88 lb)). Megaloceros giganteus first appeared about 400,000 years ago. For this reason, the name 'Giant Deer' is sometimes used. It was not closely related to either of the living species currently called elk – Alces alces (the European elk, or moose) or Cervus canadensis (the North American elk or wapiti). Most skeletons have been found in Irish bogs. The last known remains of the species have been carbon dated to about 7,700 years ago. Its range extended across Eurasia, from Ireland to east of Lake Baikal and China. The Irish elk ( Megaloceros giganteus) was one of the largest deer that ever lived. antecedens skull Cave painting from Lascaux Restoration by Charles R. Cervus ( Megaceros) hibernicus Owen, 1844.

Irish elk antlers