| Stag-moose | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
|
Fossil
|
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Cervidae |
| Genus: | †Cervalces Scott, 1885 |
| Species: | †C. scotti |
| Binomial name | |
| Cervalces scotti |
|
The stag-moose or stag moose (Cervalces scotti) was a large, moose-like deer of North America of the Pleistocene epoch.[1] It was slightly larger than the moose, with an elk-like head, long legs, and complex, palmate antlers. The species went extinct approximately 11,500 years ago, toward the end of the most recent ice age, as part of a mass extinction of large North American mammals.[2][3]
The first evidence of the stag-moose found in modern times was discovered at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky by William Clark, circa 1805. A more complete skeleton was found in 1885 by William Barryman Scott in New Jersey.[1] Mummified remains have also been found.[4]
The stag-moose frequented wetlands in a range from southern Canada to Arkansas and from Iowa to New Jersey. As the glaciers retreated, moose (which had crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia)[5] may have populated its habitat and caused its extinction by competition.[1] Although there is no paleontological evidence that it was associated with humans,[6] other theories for its extinction have been proposed. Notably, there is speculation that hunting by newly-arrived humans caused the extinction of the stag-moose and other large mammals.[7] Additionally, some have proposed a sudden extinction by disease, brought by small mammals in association with humans.[3]