2010-02-20 21:32:20
The giant megacervid (Megaloceros giganteus) is the largest cervid that has ever lived. A close relative of the fallow deer, it appeared in Central Asia half a million years ago, and spread across the cold steppes of Eurasia, from eastern Siberia to Ireland and the interior of the Iberian Peninsula.
The giant megacero looks like a large fallow deer with a hump on its shoulders that serves to store reserves. The males, much bigger than the females, have a height of more than two meters, and weigh around seven hundred kilos. But the most impressive thing about the animal is its immense antlers. The antlers, which are only present in males, are webbed, weigh close to 40 pounds, and measure more than 12 feet from end to end. As in other deer, the antlers shed every year; many times, the consumption of mineral-rich plants was not enough, and the animal resorted to the calcium and phosphorus stored in the bones, which caused a kind of osteoporosis.
Thanks to cave paintings, it has been possible to determine the appearance of the giant megacero. In summer, its fur was shorter, of a fairly uniform color, brown, reddish or fawn; in winter, the fur turned yellowish-white on the face, throat, and belly, and darkened on the rest of the body. On the sides, two darker lines ran from the shoulders; the neck was also adorned with a collar of darker fur.
The last megaceros lived in Western Siberia, at the foot of the Urals, only 7,000 years ago. They survived the ice ages and Paleolithic hunters, but could not adapt to the environmental changes caused by the first Neolithic farmers.
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