''Cervalces scotti'', also known as stag-moose, is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

species of large deer that lived in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

during the Late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

epoch. It is the only known North American member of the genus '' Cervalces''. Its closest living relative is the modern

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

(''Alces alces''). It had palmate antlers that were more complex than those of a moose and a muzzle more closely resembling that of a typical

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

Description

It was as large as the modern moose, with an elk-like head, long legs, and palmate antlers that were more complex and heavily branching than the moose. ''Cervalces scotti'' reached in length and a weight of . The stag-moose resided in North America during an era with other

megafauna In zoology, megafauna (from Ancient Greek, Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and Neo-Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately , this lower en ...

such as the

woolly mammoth The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived from the Middle Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with the African ...

ground sloth Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra. They varied widely in size with the largest, belonging to genera '' Lestodon'', ''Eremotherium'' and ''Megatherium'', being around the size of elephants. ...

, long horn bison, and

smilodon ''Smilodon'' is an extinct genus of Felidae, felids. It is one of the best known saber-toothed predators and prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats ...

."Cervalces Scotti." Maxilla & Mandible. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. . The species became extinct approximately 11,500 years ago, toward the end of the most recent

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

, as part of a mass extinction of large North American mammals. The first evidence of ''Cervalces scotti'' found in modern times was discovered at Big Bone Lick,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

, ''circa'' 1805. A more complete skeleton was found in 1885 by William Barryman Scott in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Mummified remains have also been found. One of the most complete ''Cervalces'' skulls ever discovered was dredged from a pond in Kendallville, Indiana and dated to 13,500 BP.

Extinction

''Cervalces scotti'', like several other members of its genus, probably lived in marshes, swamps and bogs, as well as spruce-taiga floral communities. There were also surroundings ranging from tundra–mixed coniferous forests to deciduous woodlands. These sedges and willows may not have been suitable food products, but they provide an imagery of the ecology of the stag-moose. The change in flora and fauna due to complete deglaciation probably also affected the living conditions of the stag-moose in states like Iowa and Wisconsin, where the stag-moose was found at more than 20 sites.Bower, Bruce. "America's Talk: The Great Divide." Science News 137.23 (1990): 360-362. JSTOR. Web The stag-moose reproduced more often than megaherbivores, and so the hypothesis is that the stag-moose's disappearance is linked to the emergence of the "true moose" instead.

Palaeobiology

''Cervalces scotti'' is thought to have evolved from a population of '' Cervalces latifrons'' that migrated into North America probably sometime during the

Middle Pleistocene The Chibanian, more widely known as the Middle Pleistocene (its previous informal name), is an Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale or a Stage (stratigraphy), stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocen ...

. It shared the spruce parkland ecosystem with other herbivorous megafauna, such as the

caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

(''Rangifer tarandus''), the woodland musk-ox (''Ovibos moschatus''), and the giant beaver (''Castoroides'' sp.), in a range from what is now southern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and from

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

to New Jersey. As the

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s retreated, moose (which had crossed the

Bering land bridge Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 72° north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south by the tip of the ...

from Asia) may have populated the habitat of ''Cervalces scotti'' and caused its extinction by outcompetition. Although there is no paleontological evidence that it was associated with humans, other theories for its extinction have been proposed. Notably, there is speculation that hunting by newly arrived humans caused the extinction of ''Cervalces scotti'' and other large mammals. Additionally, some have proposed a sudden extinction by disease, brought by small mammals in association with humans. The oldest known fossil of ''Cervalces scotti'' was found in the bed of the Skunk River in Iowa, with the specimen dating back approximately 30,000 years ago. The area in which the fossil was found and the date implies that ''Cervalces scotti'' lived before a massive ice sheet covered the area in which it inhabited, which could also be a possible cause of its extinction. Since the stag-moose resided in a woodland habitat, climate change and loss of natural pastures also could have played a role in its extinction. ''Cervalces scotti'' probably lived in a narrow geographic range, characterized by a spruce-dominant mixed conifer and deciduous wet woodland which may have made it more vulnerable to extinction. Remains of ''Cervalces scotti'' found in modern-day Ohio have suggested that it and ''Homo sapiens'' could have possibly interacted. Fossils of both ''Cervalces scotti'' and other large extinct mammals in the area suggest that it may have been a frequent target of early human hunters.Mayhood, Kevin. "Solving a 10,000-year-old mystery - Researchers study clues to figure out what killed giant ice age moose." Columbus Dispatch, The (OH) 16 Sep. 2008, Home Final, News - Science: 04B. NewsBank. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. Remains of the stag moose, along with Paleo Indian artifacts and the remains of the flat-headed peccary (''Platygonus compressus),'' giant short-faced bear (''Arctodus simus''), and giant beaver were found in the Sheriden Cave in Wyandot County, Ohio.

References

External links

Stag Moose Image Gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q16882783 Cervalces Prehistoric deer Pleistocene Artiodactyla Pleistocene extinctions Pleistocene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1885 Pleistocene mammals of Europe