Megaloceros giganteus

Megaloceros giganteus is the most heavily built of known living and fossil cervidae. It is related to present-day European fallow deer (Dama dama). It was long called “the giant deer of the Irish bogs” because of the numerous skeletons, skulls and antlers retrieved from the island’s turf deposits.

The males, which were much larger than the females, could measure up to 2 metres in height at the shoulder. Their gigantic antlers could reach a span of 3.5 metres and weigh up to 45 kilograms. They were shed and regrew each year just like the antlers of cervidae living today. Long believed to have played a role in combat, these “extravagant” Megaloceros antlers may have been visual symbols used by males during mating parades, illustrating in a spectacular way the sexual selection proposed by Charles Darwin in 1871.

Megaloceros lived on the cold damp plains of the northern part of Eurasia, from the British Isles to Siberia. Smaller individuals have also been found on the islands of the Mediterranean. Its disappearance was not due to the over development of its antlers. It could of occured following a change in climate, unless it was linked to hunting practiced by humans, with whom it was a contemporary. Representations of Megaloceros exist in cave art, most notably in the caves of Lascaux and Chauvet.

The bones of this skeleton were sent to Alcide d’Orbigny, first holder of the Chair of Palaeontology, by Mr Mahon in 1856. They were mounted by Mr Merlieux.