The type species, Croizetoceros ramosus was originally classified as Cervus ramosus, but was found distinct enough to be placed into its own genus.[3] Many subspecies of C. ramosus have been identified throughout Europe, and another species, C. proramosus, has also been described in 1996 from fossil remains found in France.[4]
Description
Croizetoceros was a mid-sized species, similar in size to the living fallow deer. It stood a little over 1m (3.3ft) tall and weighed around 60kg (130lb).[2]Croizetoceros was one of the first modern-looking deer. It had complex antlers, with four or even five short branches. They were long and lyre-shaped, with the tines branching off tangentially from the central branch.[2]
Palaeobiology
Croizetoceros was probably a browser.[5] Based on its dental mesowear, microwear, and geometric morphometrics from the Gelasian site of Gerakarou-1 in Greece, C. ramosus fed on a diet very similar to that of the modern red deer.[6]
1 2 3 Agustí, Jordi; Antón, Mauricio (2010). Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. New York: Columbia University Press. p.205. ISBN9780231516334.
↑ Heintz, E. (1970). "Les Cervidés villafranchiens de France et d'Espagne". Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. 22: 1–303.
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