Point d’intérêt
Giant deer
An Irish skeleton with antlers spanning 2.5 metres.
Langue du contenu
The museum’s giant deer has an antler span of 2.5 metres. This measurement belongs to this particular specimen; it is not the upper limit for Megaloceros giganteus. The largest known antlers of this extinct deer could span more than three and a half metres. The skeleton comes from Ireland. Its dark brown, almost black colour results from the remains having lain in peat. The colour of the bones records the environment in which they survived after death, rather than the colour of the animal’s coat.
The museum purchased the specimen in the late nineteenth century, when Carl Chun was its director. It is one of the university collection’s historical acquisitions, representing an animal that researchers knew from ancient remains rather than living observations. Giant deer reached about 2.1 metres at the shoulder. They ranged far beyond Ireland: remains have also been found elsewhere in Europe, northern Africa and Asia. The skeleton’s Irish origin identifies where this specimen was found, not the species’ entire geographical range.
Pour les enfants
The antlers of this giant deer span 2.5 metres. The largest members of the species had even wider antlers. The animal is extinct, but its bones survived in old deposits. This skeleton was found in Ireland.
Its bones are dark, almost black, because they lay in peat. The museum bought the specimen in the late nineteenth century, when Carl Chun was director. Giant deer could reach about 2.1 metres at the shoulder. They also lived outside Ireland, elsewhere in Europe, in Asia and northern Africa. This skeleton represents one animal belonging to a species that occupied a wide area.
Question 1 sur 2