veled at the immense antlers of the extinct 

 Irish elk, which appeared half a million 

 years ago and persisted in Europe until 

 about 1 1,000 years ago. Neither an elk nor 

 restricted to Ireland, the Irish elk had huge 

 antlers — twice the weight of those of a big 

 Alaskan moose — which indicate that the 

 species was an open plains dweller. Its 

 bodily proportions suggest that it was also 

 the most highly evolved mnner among all 

 deer. It had a huge chest to hold a big heart 

 and lungs, large shoulder blades, and 

 light-boned legs of nearly equal length, 

 enabling it to run very fast over flat or even 

 ground (see "The Paradox of the Great 

 Irish Stags," Natural History, March 

 1986). 



Like today's diminutive fallow deer 

 (close relatives of the Irish elk), which 

 carry the largest relative antler mass 

 among Old World deer, Irish elk bulls may 

 have gathered in small groups on the open 

 plains, then marked out individual 

 courtship territories, or leks. In the slant- 

 ing rays of the morning and evening sun, 

 their enormous but relatively Ughtweight 

 antlers could have been seen for miles by 

 interested females. 



Another fantastic antler shape evolved 

 in the extinct GaUic moose, the earliest- 

 known member of a family that appeared 

 2.6 million years ago in Europe. Two ex- 

 cellent skeletons are preserved in France. 

 Their antlers carried tiny palmate 

 branches on the ends of very long beams. 

 A small moose by today's standards. 



barely as large as a yeaiiing elk, it was. 

 judging by its proportions, also a speedy 

 runner that evolved in open plains. (One 

 can imagine the problems it would have 

 had navigating through forests.) 



Over time, the deer family elaborated 

 their antlers, but not all ungulates devel- 

 oped large horns as they evolved from for- 

 est dwellers to plains dwellers. Some 

 plains species, such as camels and their 

 relatives, retained teiritories and contin- 

 ued to defend them with sharp teeth. Oth- 

 ers, such as horses, lost their "fighting 

 teeth" as evolution emphasized their kick- 

 ing and neck wrestling equipment. When 

 bison came to North America from Siberia 

 in the middle of the Pleistocene, they first 

 evolved into giants with huge homs but 

 later shifted to developing a luxuriant dis- 

 play coat and smaller homs. Like antlers 

 in deer, the bull bison's coat advertises 

 both its competence at foraging and its 

 general state of vitality. 



When the stag moose came here, it too 

 developed antlers much larger and more 

 complex than did either its ancestors or de- 

 scendants. Body measurements confirm 

 that these animals not only had laige homs 

 but were also specialized for fast locomo- 

 tion with generally larger hoofs and long, 

 slim legs of equal length. 



During the Pleistocene, many large- 

 bodied predators roamed North America. 

 Several species were specialized as fast 

 mnners, including the huge, short-faced 

 bear, a large American Hon, and two spe- 



A forerunner of modem species, the Gallic moose, top of page, lived in 



Europe about 2.6 million years ago. Straight beams that ended in small, 



palmate branches stuck out three to four feet on each side of its head. 



Right: An Irish elk stag, the largest-antlered deer that ever lived, was 



depicted by painter Charles R. Knight about seventy years ago. Knight 



apparently based its facial features, neck ruff, and coloration on those of 



modern red deer. Current phylogenetic studies and Ice Age cave 



drawings indicate that the extinct ungulate 's markings and coat 



resembled those of the fallow deer, its closest living relative. 



Drawing by Valerius Geist/Painting by Charles R. Knight: courtesy of the FielcJ Museum, Chicago, Neg, No. CK1T 



68 



