The moose or elk is the only species in the genus Alces. The moose is the tallest, and the second-largest, land animal in North America, only falling short of the American bison, in terms of mass. It is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer. Most adult male moose have distinctively broad, palmate antlers; other members of the deer family have antlers with a dendritic ("twig-like"), pointed configuration. Moose are winter specialists, and typically inhabit the circumpolar boreal forests or temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of the Northern Hemisphere, thriving in cooler, temperate areas as well as subarctic climates.
A deer or true deer is a hoofed ruminant mammal of the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including reindeer (caribou), white-tailed deer, roe deer, and moose. Male deer of all species, as well as female reindeer, grow and shed new antlers each year. In this, they differ from permanently horned antelope, which are part of a different family (Bovidae) within the same order of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla).
The elk is a large antlered mammal within the deer family.
The Irish elk, also called the giant deer or Irish deer, is an extinct species of deer in the genus Megaloceros and is one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across Eurasia during the Pleistocene, from Ireland to Lake Baikal in Siberia. The most recent remains of the species have been radiocarbon dated to about 7,700 years ago in western Russia. Its antlers, which can span 3.5 metres (11 ft) across are the largest known of any deer. It is not closely related to either living species called the elk, with it being widely agreed that its closest living relatives are fallow deer (Dama).
Megaloceros 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 is thought to be closely related to the East Asian genus Sinomegaceros, as well as possibly other extinct genera of "giant deer".
The elk, or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The word "elk" originally referred to the European variety of the moose, Alces alces, but was transferred to Cervus canadensis by North American colonists. The name "wapiti" derives from a Shawnee and Cree word meaning "white rump" for the distinctive light fur in the rear region, just like the Bighorn Sheep.
Candiacervus is an extinct genus of deer native to Pleistocene Crete. Due to a lack of other herbivores, the genus underwent an adaptive radiation, filling niches occupied by other taxa on the mainland. Due to the small size of Crete, some species underwent insular dwarfism, the smallest species, C. ropalophorus, stood about 40 centimetres (16 in) at the shoulders when fully grown, while other species were relatively large and comparable in size to mainland deer species. Some species are noted for their peculiar, elongate club-shaped antlers, though other species have more normal antlers.
Cervalces scotti, also known as stag-moose, is an extinct species of large deer that lived in North America during the Late Pleistocene epoch. It is the only known North American member of the genus Cervalces. Its closest living relative is the modern moose.
The Capreolinae, Odocoileinae, or the New World deer are a subfamily of deer. Alternatively, they are known as the telemetacarpal deer, due to their bone structure being different from the plesiometacarpal deer subfamily Cervinae. The telemetacarpal deer maintain their distal lateral metacarpals, while the plesiometacarpal deer maintain only their proximal lateral metacarpals. The Capreolinae are believed to have originated in the Middle Miocene, between 7.7 and 11.5 million years ago, in Central Asia.
Odocoileus lucasi, known commonly as the American mountain deer, is an extinct species of North American deer.
Cervalces carnutorum, sometimes known as Alces carnutorum, is an extinct species of large deer that lived in Europe during the Early Pleistocene. Fragments were found in the site of Saint-Prest, near Chartres, and described by Laugel in 1862.
Rucervus is a genus of deer from India, Nepal, Indochina, and the Chinese island of Hainan. The only extant representatives, the barasingha or swamp deer and Eld's deer, are threatened by habitat loss and hunting; another species, Schomburgk’s deer, went extinct in 1938. Deer species found within the genus Rucervus are characterized by a specific antler structure, where the basal ramification is often supplemented with an additional small prong, and the middle tine is never present. The crown tines are inserted on the posterior side of the beam and may be bifurcated or fused into a small palmation.
The Alaska moose, or Alaskan moose in Alaska, or giant moose and Yukon moose in Canada, is a subspecies of moose that ranges from Alaska to western Yukon. The Alaska moose is the largest subspecies of moose. Alaska moose inhabit boreal forests and mixed deciduous forests throughout most of Alaska and most of Western Yukon. Like all moose subspecies, the Alaska moose is usually solitary but sometimes will form small herds. Typically, they only come into contact with other moose for mating or competition for mates. Males and females select different home ranges during different seasons. This leads to spatial segregation throughout much of the year. While males and females are spatially separate the habitat that they occupy is not significantly different. During mating season, in autumn and winter, male Alaska moose become very aggressive and prone to attacking when startled.
The Paleontological and History Museum of Ptolemais, former Anthropological and Folklore Museum, was established in 1997 by the Municipality of Ptolemaida. It was initially housed in a ground-floor shop at 19 Nosokomeiou St. During 2000 it is due to be installed in a new building especially built for this museum. This new building located on 28 Oktovriou St and Agias Triados St corner.
Cervalces latifrons, the broad-fronted moose, or the giant moose was a giant species of deer that inhabited the Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene epoch. It is thought to be the ancestor of the modern moose, as well as the extinct North American Cervalces scotti. It was considerably larger than living moose, placing it as one of the largest deer to have ever lived.
Cervalces is an extinct deer genus that lived during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Cervalces gallicus is either classified as a species of the related Libralces, or an ancestral species to other members of Cervalces. It lived in Europe from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene. Cervalces scotti, the stag-moose, lived in Pleistocene North America. Cervalces latifrons, the broad-fronted moose, and Cervalces carnutorum were found in Pleistocene Europe and Asia. The genus has been suggested to be paraphyletic and ancestral with respect to Alces, the genus which contains the modern moose, and as such, some authors synonymise Cervalces with Alces.
Praemegaceros is an extinct genus of deer, known from the Pleistocene and Holocene of Western Eurasia. It contains the subgenera Praemegaceros,Orthogonoceros and Nesoleipoceros. It has sometimes been synonymised with Megaloceros and Megaceroides, however they have been found to be generically distinct.
Megaceroides algericus is an extinct species of deer known from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene of North Africa. It is one of only two species of deer known to have been native to the African continent, alongside the Barbary stag, a subspecies of red deer. It is considered to be closely related to the giant deer species of Eurasia.
Sinomegaceros is an extinct genus of deer known from the Early to Late Pleistocene of Central and East Asia. It is considered to be part of the group of "giant deer", with a close relationship to Megaloceros. Many members of the genus are noted for their distinctive palmate antler brow tines.
Alceini is a tribe of deer, containing the extant genus Alces and the extinct genera Cervalces and Libralces.
Partial skull of Libralces latifrons
