Megaloceros

Megaloceros is often confusingly called the 'Irish Elk', although it was found all across Europe, not just Ireland, and is technically a deer rather than an elk. Its closest living relative is the Fallow deer, and like this animal it probably spent much of its time in open woodland.

Many of the hundreds of well-preserved specimens found in the peat bogs of Ireland are males showing signs of malnutrition and exhaustion. They are probably animals that exhausted themselves after the rut - when male deer fight continually for access to a group of females. Occasional paintings exist, and a few of these suggest the colour pattern these animals had.

Traits & Evidence
The large numbers of skeletons from the peat bogs of Ireland have revealed that many male Megaloceros died from malnutrition and exhaustion during the winter. This is probably due to the rigours of the autumn rutting season, which many European deer have, during which males do not eat, and fight for the right to mate with a harem of females.

Although 'Irish Elk' is a very common name used for Megaloceros, it is a deer, rather than an elk (most closely related to the Fallow deer) and is not just found in Ireland, but all across Europe so Megaloceros (meaning 'giant antler') is a better name for it.

Appearance
Cave paintings often seem to indicate a colour pattern for Megaloceros with a brownish back, a creamy chest and dark markings around the neck and shoulders.

The antlers together span about 12 feet, or 6 feet each. Some were even larger. Megaloceros was just over 2 metres at the shoulder, about the size of a moose.

Mammoth Journey
As the mammoth herd migrates south, the episode shows two large deer, the Megaloceros, fighting for rights to a harem of females. As the male Megaloceros fight, a group of humans ambushes them and kills one. It tries to fight back, but is exhausted from fighting the other male, and its antlers prevent it from getting through the small gaps between trees in the nearby forest.

Female Megaloceros are later seen in the valley, having apparently migrated with the mammoth herds and humans.

The Survivors
A group of Homo heidelbergensis hunt a Megaloceros in a marshy, rocky area using spears. It succeeds in killing one of the hunters, before they brutally murder it.