May 22, 2012 - Facebook Twitter Pinterest Buffer Reddit HackerNewsFollow Facebook Twitter Pinterest Buffer Reddit HackerNewsFollow … Continue reading → Name: Megaloceros (Great horn). As a consequence of their wide geographical variety and impressive dimensions, Irish elk are often found in Ice Age paleontological collections. Phonetic: Meg-ah-loe-seh-ross. A significant collection of M. giganteus skeletons can be found at the Natural History Museum in Dublin. a.k.a Irish Elk and Giant Deer. Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, A Diet. Information Edit. Named By: Johann Friedrich Blumenbach - 1799. The Irish Elk ate a mixture of seasonal grasses, herbs and leaves. Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus Blumenbach, 1799). Elk are well-known for their huge antlers. Irish Elks lived in grassland bordering on woods and forests. Elk are most active at dawn and dusk, and feed on a variety of trees, shrubs and herbs, as well as twigs and bark in the winter. Evolution of antler size .
Geographic distribution. WAPITI: The Shawnee name for elk is wapiti , which means “white rump.” Elk are connected with love and music for many Native Americans, and a well-known tribe legend credits elk with the creation of the first flute: a boy is too shy to speak to the girl he has fallen in love with. Eurasia . We think elk use this sound (at least in part) to tell other elk that they’re approaching them from behind. The Irish Elk got to a mass of about 540–600 kg (1,190–1,320 lb), with large specimens having weighed 700 kg (1,500 lb) or more, roughly similar to the Alaskan Moose. Middle Pleistocene/Early Holocene (0.781–0.008 m.y) Megaloceros, also known as the Irish elk, is an extinct genus of deer whose members lived throughout Eurasia from the late Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene and were important herbivores during the Ice Ages and is one of the largest deer that ever lived. Order: Artiodactyla Family: Cervidae. The Eurasian elk is a strong swimmer, and is capable of running at speeds of up to 56 kilometres per hour, with their long legs helping them to negotiate deep snow. Herbivorous. Temporal range: during the Late Pleistocene. Synonyms: Megaceroides, Megaceros, Megaloceros giganteus giganteus, Orthogonoceros, Praemegaceros, Sinomegaceros. See main text for more details. Time period. An elk has an exceptional stomach to digest all of the food it takes in. The most recent remains of the species have been carbon dated to about 7.700 years ago in Eurasia.. Dimensions: length - 3.2 m, height - 200 сm, antlers - 2.7 m, weight - 600 kg. The Irish elk, commonly referred to as giant deer, is one of the largest deer species that ever lived.