Irish elk

an extinct deerlike mammal of the genus Megaceros (Megaloceros), of the Pleistocene Epoch, having in the male extremely large, broad antlers.

[1815-25]

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Any member of a genus (Megaloceros) of extinct giant deer commonly found as fossils in Pleistocene deposits (1.8 million–10,000 years ago) in Europe and Asia.

About the size of a modern moose, the Irish elk had the largest antlers of any form of deer known, in some specimens about 13 ft (4 m) across. It may have survived until с 700–500 BC.

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▪ extinct mammal

      genus (Megaloceros) of extinct giant elk commonly found as fossils in Pleistocene deposits in Europe and Asia (the Pleistocene Epoch began 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Irish elk, about the size of the modern moose, had the largest antlers of any form of deer known—in some specimens, 4 m (about 13 feet) across. The antlers differed from those of the modern elk; the main part was a massive single sheet from which arose a series of pointed projections, or tines. Several species of Megaloceros are known; those from Ireland and Denmark are the largest. It is possible that Megaloceros survived as late as 700 or even 500 BC.

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