Starvation 'wiped out' giant deer

BBC ^ | 16 Nov 2009 | Matt Walker

[BGHater]

The giant deer, also known as the giant Irish deer or Irish elk, is one of the largest deer species that ever lived.

Yet why this giant animal, which had massive antlers spanning 3.6m, suddenly went extinct some 10,600 years ago has remained a mystery.

Now a study of its teeth is producing tantalising answers, suggesting the deer couldn't cope with climate change.

As conditions became colder and drier in Ireland at the time, fewer plants grew, gradually starving the deer.

The discovery is published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

The giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus) has become famous over the past few centuries.

In the early 1800s, discoveries of its remains opened up the debate about whether animal species had previously become extinct, and whether new life-forms could be discovered in the fossil record.

Around this time, conflicting ideas as to why the animal went extinct began to emerge.

Initial ideas ranged from the Biblical flood described by Genesis, to the idea that humans had wiped them out.

However, the archaeological record suggests that people did not arrive in Ireland until after the last Ice Age, after most giant deer had disappeared.

There is also little evidence that the deer had any predators in Ireland.

A popular idea that also emerged was that the deer's huge antlers, spanning up to 3.6m, grew disproportionately large due to sexual selection.

Females became attracted to and mated with males with ever larger antlers, according to the idea, and eventually the antlers became so unwieldy that the deer became mired in clay soils, where they perished.

[conservativeharleyguy]

"...Quick, better tell that to the moose in Maine and Alaska..."

Yea. And Montana, and Washington, and Idaho, and Wyoming, and Colorado, and Vermont, and Michigan, and Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and ....... Hell, there was even one in the middle of town in Taos, New Mexico a couple of years ago.

That muddy soil sure slows their reproduction down, doesn't it?

[crusty old prospector]

Wonder how the timing of the extinction coincides with the migration of the evil humans over the land bridge.

[digger48]

Naw, but my unc builds big bore bolt-action rifles. Has a few of his own style cartridges.

From .416 up to, and including a .700 Nitro Express. just kept getting bigger over the last 40 years.

last I saw him, he’s talking of a .800 Nitro

[TexasRepublic]

Earth’s climate has fluctuated drastically many times, with no help from man. Solar activity, volcanoes, etc. That is why I think our impact on the environment is minimal.

[SunkenCiv]

Ten Extinct Beasts That Could Walk The Earth Again
News Scientist | 1/07/2009 | Staff Writers
Posted on 01/09/2009 10:20:15 AM PST by ex-Texan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2161690/posts

Immigrants From The Other Side (Clovis Is Solutrean?)
CSFA | 11-3-2003 | Dennis Sanford
Posted on 11/02/2003 4:11:21 PM PST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1013315/posts

also

http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1875557/posts?page=31#31

[SunkenCiv]

---

The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: Flood, Fire, and Famine in the History of Civilization by Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith

---

• What killed the mammoths and other behemoths?
• Ancient Atomic Warfare - Religious texts and geological evidence
• Supernova debris found on Earth
• Deep freeze dealt death knell to bison (Ice Age)
• Supernova Storm Wiped Out Mammoths?
• Supernova Storm Wiped Out Mammoths?
• Scientist: Comets Blasted Early Americans
• Terrestrial Evidence of a Nuclear Catastrophe in Paleoindian Times
• Did comet start deadly cold snap?
• Diamonds tell tale of comet that killed off the cavemen
• Catastrophic Comet Chilled and Killed Ice Age Beasts (and Clovis people)
• Oregon Researchers Involved In New Clovis-Age Impact Theory (More)
• Comet May Have Doomed Mammoths
• Ice Age Ends Smashingly: Did A Comet Blow Up Over Eastern Canada? (More) (Carolina Bays)
• Climate alarmists lose another piece of evidence
• Comet Theory Collides With Clovis Research, May Explain Disappearance of Ancient People
• NSF Press Release: Comet May Have Exploded Over North America 13,000 Years Ago
• Research Team Says Extraterrestrial Impact To Blame For Ice Age Extinctions (More)
• Cosmic blast may have killed off megafauna: Scientists say early humans doomed, too
• Cosmic blast may have killed off megafauna: Scientists say early humans doomed, too
• Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago
• Site Provides Evidence For Ancient Comet Explosion (Topper - SC)
• The End of Eden: The Comet That Changed Civilization
• Great beasts peppered from space
• Did Comets Cause Ancient American Extinctions?
• Al Goodyear And The Secrets Of Ancient Americans
• The mysterious forest rings of northern Ontario
• Life Survived Catastrophic Space Rock Impact [Chesapeake Bay area]
• Research Casts New Light On History Of North America
• Exploding Asteroid Theory Strengthened By New Evidence Located In Ohio, Indiana
• First Humans To Settle Americas Came From Europe, Not From Asia....
• Diamonds Rained Down During Ice Age
• Diamonds Rained Down During Ice Age ($$$)
• First Humans To Settle Americas Came From Europe, Not From Asia Over Bering Strait -
• Tracking down abrupt climate changes (Rapid natural climate change 12,700 years ago)
• Mammoth Mystery: The Beasts' Final Years
• Scientists find signs of 13,000-year-old extinction event
• Scientists say comet killed off mammoths, saber-toothed tigers
• Diamonds Linked to Quick Cooling Eons Ago
• Six North American sites hold 12,900-year-old nanodiamond-rich soil
• Did a Comet Hit Earth 12,000 Years Ago?
• Mammoths wiped out by 'perfect storm?'
• Laser mapping may help solve the mystery of the Mima Mounds
• Humans to Blame for Extinction? - Not Necessarily So ...
• Did a Comet Cause a North American Die-Off around 13,000 Years Ago?
• Carolina bays gouged into the ground at a magnetic reversal
• North America comet theory questioned
• Mini ice age took hold of Europe in months
• Car-Sized Creature Whacked with Tail's Sweet Spot (until 10,000 years ago)s

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BGHater.

· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·

[LiberConservative]

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks BGHater. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
·Dogpile · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[Battle Axe]

Hormonal reflection. The more hormones produced, the bigger the antlers, the more aggressive the male, wins more fights, mates with more does, makes more fawns.

But you are correct that the large antlers would not make the does line up. Though,the size might frighten other males away.

[null and void]

I draw the line at any caliber which will detach my retinas.

[coconutt2000]

We was hungry, so we ate them deer. Yes we did.

[colorado tanker]

Climate change sounds plausible to me. This was around the end of the Younger Dryas, a nasty little event.

[SunkenCiv]

Brrrrr.

[Ditter]

The female deer were attracted to males with bigger antlers?

I am sorry I don’t think female deer think like that.

The bigger antlered males could more easily fight off the males with smaller antlers. That sounds more like it.

Who are these people who think this up?

[Ditter]

I came to the same conclusion about the preposterous notion that the females like big racks. Thinking about the big antlers getting stuck in the mud, I can see that happening when the deer put his head down to graze. That might be possible.