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Extinct Animal: Irish Elk

The Irish elk, also known as Megaloceros giganteus, was a species of giant deer that lived in Eurasia until approximately 10,000 years ago. It stood over 2 meters tall at the shoulder and had massive antlers that could reach over 3 meters wide. While the antlers initially helped the Irish elk compete for mates and territory, they grew so large over time that they became too heavy for the elk to carry. This, combined with climate change reducing their food sources of calcium- and phosphorus-rich plants, ultimately led to the Irish elk's extinction.

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107 views11 pages

Extinct Animal: Irish Elk

The Irish elk, also known as Megaloceros giganteus, was a species of giant deer that lived in Eurasia until approximately 10,000 years ago. It stood over 2 meters tall at the shoulder and had massive antlers that could reach over 3 meters wide. While the antlers initially helped the Irish elk compete for mates and territory, they grew so large over time that they became too heavy for the elk to carry. This, combined with climate change reducing their food sources of calcium- and phosphorus-rich plants, ultimately led to the Irish elk's extinction.

Uploaded by

Md Haneesuddin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Irish elk

EXTINCT ANIMA

Classification
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Mammalia
Order : Artiodactyla
Family : Cervidae
Genus : Megaloceros
Species : M. giganteus

Information
Also known as Megaceros giganteus and
Megaloceros giganteus.
Greek for "giant horn
Habitat :
Plains of Eurasia
Diet:
Plants
Historical Epoch:
Late Miocene-Modern (10,000 years ago)

Size
The Irish Elk stood about 2.1 metres
(6.9ft) tall at the shoulders.
Its antlers can reach maximum of 3.65m
(12.0ft) wide.
The Irish Elk is estimated to have a
totalmassof 540600kg (1,1901,323lb),
where the large specimens having
weighed 700kg (1,543lb) or more.

Reproduction
The

Irish

elk

was

once

considered

prime

example

of

orthogenesis.
Orthogenesis is also known as straight line evolution.
Evolutionary mechanism in which the successive organisms within
the lineage of an evolutionary series become increasingly modified
in a single undeviating direction.
Orthogenesis is only a hypothesis, unlike natural selection which is
understood by the scientific community as a theory
It is believed that orthogenesis caused an evolution of antlers size
became larger and larger.

Fun facts About Antlers


It

has

been

various

held

that

the

giant

antlers

wereadaptationsas defensive weapons, sexual selection


to attract females, and for ritualized combat.
One theory is that their antlers, under constant and
strongsexual selection, increased in size because males
were using them in combat for access to females.
The antlers of the species ancestors were already large
to begin with - Stephen Jay Gould

Causes Of
Extinction
The cause of the Irish elk's extinction has tended to
focus on the antlers.
The female elks were attracted to males with large
antlers, thus the male elk passed on his antler gene to
the offspring. However, the antlers became too heavy for
the elk to carry.
Some have suggested hunting by humans was a
contributing factorof Irish elks extinction.
Where the elks had trouble running in the forest when
they were being hunted by humans.

More recent research pointed out that high


amounts

ofcalciumandphosphatecompounds

are required to form antlers.


After climate change (end of ice age) there is lack
of food such as plants that was rich in phosphorus
and calcium.

Sources
http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/mesozoicmammals
/p/megaloceros.htm
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Irish_
Elk
http://www.answers.com/Q/Cause_of_Irish_Deer_ex
tinction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_elk
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/artio/irish
elk.html

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