Finding Hidden Giants: the Irish Elk (Megaloceros Giganteus)

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Finding Hidden Giants: The Irish Elk (Megaloceros giganteus) Overview History The biggest deer to walk the earth lives only in museums and deep in Irish Irish Elk skeletons are dated between peat bogs. At shoulder heights of up to 7 feet, this now-extinct deer was 7,000 and 400,000 years old, massive. Its antlers could span as wide as 14 feet, over twice the length of the suggesting that they lived mainly average adult human male! While named the Irish Elk, Megaloceros during the Pleistocene Epoch era. giganteus is actually a deer species. Although commonly named the Irish Elk, this giant deer’s range extended past Ireland, well into places such as Great Britain, Siberia, and China. It is believed that the species adapted poorly to the cold temperatures of the most recent Ice Age and died out, although a Why Peat few skeletons have been found that Bogs? appear to have survived longer. Many Irish Elk specimens have been found in peat bogs in Ireland. Peat bogs are swamp-like bodies of water that release acid, creating a vinegar-like preservative environment. Bodies and skeletons that fall into the peat bogs are Importance therefore well-preserved. In the 17th century, evolution and extinction were hotly debated topics, and most people did not believe in Many Irish Elk lived in either concept. Irish Elk skeletons were used in the writings of scientist Georges Cuvier, who argued that Ireland, allowed for their extinction must be possible. He argued that as the giant deer no longer walked the Earth, and would be preservation in peat bogs. unable to walk the Earth unnoticed due to their large size, they must be extinct. This helped change scientific thoughts on evolution. .

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