Megaloceros is a genus of large deer that lived across Eurasia during the Pleistocene and Holocene. It is represented by its type species M. giganteus, also known as the Irish Elk or the Giant Deer, in Prehistoric Kingdom.
It was added to the game in Update 13 alongside Ursus.
In Game[]
Description[]
Megaloceros is a large deer with massive antlers in male individuals that dwarf the headgear of its modern counterparts. The coat patterns of all three Megaloceros skins bear characteristic shaded and lighter regions based off of cave art depictions of these animals, similar to Coelodonta.
- "Fómhar" is largely dark ashy brown with subtly lighter areas on its stomach, head and neck.
- "Earrach" is a warmer brown color with a dark neck, light shoulder and stomach region and dark hindquarters. The hindquarters also bear spotting which is more defined in female individuals, a rare trait in open-environment deer such as Megaloceros.
- "Geimhreadh" is a chocolate brown with a light stomach region and neck region with a dark neck stripe separating its lighter head region from the neck. Unlike the other two skins, this skin also has longer fur in its neck region than the others.
Management[]
To be announced.
In-Game Trivia[]
Nigel Marven
My word, what a majestic creature. Megaloceros always takes my breath away.
Nigel Marven
Each one of a male’s antlers is almost as long as I am tall! Just imagine having to balance two Nigels on your head…
Nigel Marven
Although the suffix -ceros is commonly translated to “horn”, deer-like Megaloceros have antlers, not horns. The difference is that horns are covered by keratin sheaths, while antlers are pure bone.
Nigel Marven
The man who first described Megaloceros antlers mistook them for those of an elk and concluded that elks used to live in Ireland. This case of mistaken identity resulted in the name the “Irish elk”, despite the fact that elks and Megaloceros aren’t even close cousins.
Paleontology[]
Megaloceros was discovered in 1799 by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, the same scientist who named the genus Mammuthus. Its name means "Great Horn" in reference to its enormous antlers.
Paleoecology[]
The antlers of Megaloceros were likely used in a similar fashion to living deer, with male individuals sparring with their massive headgear.
When Megaloceros was first being described some thought that its antlers were so large that they drove the species to extinction, however more recent analysis has determined that Megaloceros was perfectly capable of wielding its massive adornments. It is now more understood that a combination of climate change and human interaction are what lead to this animal's extinction, much like with other Ice Age megafauna.
Megaloceros is fortunate enough to have a wealth of cave art depicting it as it would have appeared in life, leading to a good general idea of its coat patterning and other soft tissue features. The specific art styles used to depict the deer have lead to differing interpretations however, with some postulating that the animal had a large stripe on its coat, while others point out that no modern deer have such a pattern and that the markings are likely differentiating darker and lighter portions of the body. Ultimately which portions are darker and which portions are lighter will likely remain uncertain until good physical remains or genetic analysis reveal this animal's true colors.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Megaloceros was released alongside Ursus just in time for Christmas 2024.
- Megaloceros was the first artiodactyl (even-toed ungulate like camels, pigs, hippos, giraffes, bovids and even whales) added to Prehistoric Kingdom, as all hoofed mammals added before it have been members of Perissodactyla, the odd-toed ungulates like horses, tapirs and rhinos.
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