Praemegaceros

Praemegaceros
Temporal range: Pliocene to Pleistocene
Skull of P. obscurus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Genus: Praemegaceros
Portis, 1920
Species
  • P. dawkinsi
  • P. cazioti
  • P. obscurus
  • P. pliotarandoides
  • P. solilhacus
  • P. verticornis
Synonyms
  • Praerangifer
  • Orthogonoceros
  • Tamanalces
Antlers of P. verticornis
Restorations of P. cazioti, P. obscurus, and P. verticornis among species of Megaloceros

Praemegaceros is an extinct genus of deer. It also cotnains the subgenera Orthogonoceros and Nesoleipoceros. It has sometimes been synonymised with Megaloceros. P. obscurus is the earliest known species from the Early Pleistocene of Europe, and had long, crooked antlers. P. verticornis is an Early to Mid-Pleistocene species, closely related to P. obscurus, which lived throughout Southern Europe.[1][2]

References

  1. Croitor, R. (2006). "Taxonomy and systematics of large-sized deer of the genus Praemegaceros Portis, 1920 (Cervidae, Mammalia)". In Kahlke, R.D.; Maul, L.C.; Mazza, P.P.A. Late Neogene and Quaternary Biodiversity and Evolution: Regional Developments and Interregional Correlations 1. Stuttgart, Germany: Schweizerbart. pp. 91–116. ISBN 978-3-510-61383-0.
  2. Abbazzi, Laura (2004). "Remarks on the validity of the generic name Praemegaceros portis 1920, and an overview on Praemegaceros species in Italy". Rendiconti Lincei 15 (2): 115–132. doi:10.1007/BF02904712.


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