Editing Deer (section)

===Pleistocene===

Large deer with impressive antlers evolved during the early Pleistocene, probably as a result of abundant resources to drive evolution.<ref name=Geist/> The early Pleistocene cervid [[extinction|†]] ''[[Eucladoceros]]'' was comparable in size to the modern elk.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=De Vos | first1=J. | last2=Mol | first2=D. | last3=Reumer | first3=J. W. F. | title=Early Pleistocene Cervidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the Oosterschelde (the Netherlands), with a revision of the cervid genus ''Eucladoceros'' Falconer, 1868 | journal=Deinsea | date=1995 | issue=2 | pages=95–121 | url=http://www.hetnatuurhistorisch.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/documents-nmr/Publicaties/Deinsea/Deinsea_02/Deinsea_2_p95-121_de_Vos.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.hetnatuurhistorisch.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/documents-nmr/Publicaties/Deinsea/Deinsea_02/Deinsea_2_p95-121_de_Vos.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[extinction|†]] ''[[Megaloceros]]'' (Pliocene–Pleistocene) featured the [[Irish elk]] (''M. giganteus''), one of the [[Largest cervids|largest known cervids]]. The Irish elk reached {{convert |2|m|ft|frac=2}} at the shoulder and had heavy antlers that spanned {{convert|3.6|m|ftin}} from tip to tip.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Lister | first1=A. M. | last2=Gonzalez | first2=S. | last3=Kitchener | first3=A. C. | title=Survival of the Irish elk into the Holocene | journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | date=2000 | volume=405 | issue=6788 | pages=753–4 | doi=10.1038/35015668 | pmid=10866185| bibcode=2000Natur.405..753G | s2cid=4417046 }}</ref> These large animals were traditionally thought to have faced extinction due to conflict between [[sexual selection]] for large antlers and body and [[natural selection]] for a smaller form,<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Moen | first1=R. A. | last2=Pastor | first2=J. | last3=Yosef | first3=C. | title=Antler growth and extinction of Irish elk | journal=Evolutionary Ecology Research | date=1999 | issue=1 | pages=235–49 | url=http://www.duluth.umn.edu/~rmoen/Dld/Moen_1999.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193608/http://www.duluth.umn.edu/~rmoen/Dld/Moen_1999.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-29 |url-status=live}}</ref> but a combination of anthropogenic and climatic pressures is now thought to be the most likely culprit.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lister |first1=Adrian M. |last2=Stuart |first2=Anthony J. |date=2019-01-01 |title=The extinction of the giant deer Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach): New radiocarbon evidence |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618219300333 |journal=Quaternary International |series=SI: Quaternary International 500 |volume=500 |pages=185–203 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2019.03.025 |bibcode=2019QuInt.500..185L |issn=1040-6182}}</ref> Meanwhile, the moose and reindeer radiated into North America from Siberia.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Breda | first1=M. | last2=Marchetti | first2=M. | title=Systematical and biochronological review of Plio-Pleistocene Alceini (Cervidae; Mammalia) from Eurasia | journal=Quaternary Science Reviews | date=2005 | volume=24 | issue=5–6 | pages=775–805 | doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.05.005| bibcode=2005QSRv...24..775B | url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/209798/files/PAL_E4211.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://doc.rero.ch/record/209798/files/PAL_E4211.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live }}</ref>