Megaloceros fossil map
Where fossils of Megaloceros have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 0 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 0 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Ice Age & later mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 7.246 million years ago to the present (Messinian to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Cervidae |
| Named by | Brookes 1828 |
| Fossil records | 81 occurrences at 61 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Greece, China, France, Netherlands, Türkiye … |
| Rock formations | txn:42652, Cromer Forest Bed, Unterer Travertin, Lishi, Dursunlu, Oberer Travertin I |
About Megaloceros
Megaloceros (from Greek: μεγαλος megalos "great" + κερας keras "horn, antler") is an extinct genus of deer whose members lived throughout Eurasia from the Pleistocene to the early Holocene. The type and only undisputed member of the genus, Megaloceros giganteus, vernacularly known as the "Irish elk" or "giant deer", is also the best known. Fallow deer are thought to be their closest living relatives. Megaloceros has been suggested to be closely related to other genera of "giant deer", like the East Asian genus Sinomegaceros and the largely European Praemegaceros, the species of both genera having been historically attributed to Megaloceros.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Megaloceros (revision 1378040083), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 22 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q3544136.
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