Eucladoceros

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Eucladoceros
Fossil range: Pliocene to Pleistocene

Fossil

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Cervidae
Genus:	Eucladoceros

Species

?E. boulei (1928)
?E. dichotomus
?E. dicranios (1841)
?E. senezensis (1910)
?E. teguliensis (1841)
?E. tetraceros (1878)

Eucladoceros (Greek for well-branched horn (antler)) or bush-antlered deer is an extinct genus of deer whose fossils have been discovered in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.

The earliest species of Eucladoceros was described from the Early Pliocene of China. The most abundant fossil remains of Eucladoceros came from Early Pleistocene of Europe and China. The systematics of European forms is confused and up to 12 poorly defined species are reported. The majority of those species names are synonymous and at present only 2 or 3 good species are recognized: E. dicranios from England, Italy and Azov Sea Area in South Russia; E. ctenoides from Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Holland, and England; and E. teguliensis ( a senior synonym of E. senezensis ) from France, Holland, and England. The latter species is regarded by many authors as a subspecies of E. ctenoides, since there are some finds (for instance, from Ceyssaguet, France) that show a transitional character between E. ctenoides and E. teguliensis. The most characteristical peculiarity of Eucladoceros is its comb-like shape of antlers, as it can be seen in E. ctenoides. E. diacranios is the most evolved species of the genus characterized by a dichotomous branching of each antler tine. Eucladoceros was the first deer genus with highly evolved complicate large antlers, however its cranial shape and dental morphology remained primitive as in Rusa unicolor. Some poor remains of Eucladoceros are found also in Tadjikistan, Pakistan, and India. It was a large creature, reaching 2,50 m (8 ft) in length and standing about 1,80 m (6 ft) tall at the shoulder. Only Megaloceros and the living moose are bigger. Eucladoceros had a spectacular set of antlers which split into twelve ends per pedicle and were up to 1,70 m (5 ft 8 in) wide. Eucladoceros became extinct shortly before Glacial Epoch.

[edit] Species

The first find (E. dicranios) was in 1841 by Florentine naturalist Filippo Nesti, director of the "Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze" ("Museum of Natural History of Florence"), the other species were found later on:

E. boulei (Marcellin Boule (1928), Age: Latest Pliocene - Early Pleistocene; Nihowan, China)
"E. proboulei" (Dong Wey), Age: Early Pliocene; China
E. ctenoides, former name Eucladoceros teguliensis (F. Nesti (1841), Age: Early Pleistocene, Late Villafranchian; Locus typicus: Upper Valdarno, Tuscany, Italy)
E. dichotomus (Original citation: Cervus (Elaphurus) dichotomus Teilhard de Chardin & Piveteau; Early Pleistocene of Nohowan; most probably is not a Eucladoceros species)
E. dicranios (Filippo Nesti (1841), Age: Early Pleistocene, Late Villafranchian; Upper Valdarno, Tuscany, Italy). Note: the type species of the genus.
E. senezensis (Charles Depéret, 1910, Senèze (Haute-Loire), near Brioude, France). Note: some authors regard it as a subspecies of E. ctenoides.
E. teguliensis see E. ctenoides
E. tetraceros (Sir Wm. Boyd Dawkins (1878), Age: Early Pleistocene; Peyrolles, Haute-Loire, France). Note: a possible synonyme of E. ctenoides.