''Antifer'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of large

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

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) ...

belonging to the tribe Odocoileini native to South America during the

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 ...

, becoming extinct around 12,000 years ago. It was one of the largest South American deer genera, with an estimated body mass of up to , comparable to

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

, considerably exceeding the

marsh deer The marsh deer (''Blastocerus dichotomus'') is a species of deer native to South America. It is the largest living species of South American deer. This is the only species in the genus ''Blastocerus''. Distribution It is found in Argentin ...

, the largest living South American deer species in size. The genus has large antlers that could reach length of over .

Taxonomy

''Antifer'' was named by Ameghino (1889) based on Captain Antifer in a

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

novel describing his voyage of discovery in the Southern Hemisphere. It was assigned to

Cervidae 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) a ...

by Carroll (1988).R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company

Fossil distribution

The fossil remains are confined to southern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, the

Sopas Formation The Sopas Formation is a Lujanian geologic formation in Uruguay. Fossil content The following fossils have been reported from the formation: * '' Antifer''Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, central

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

.''Antifer''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks was a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was cr ...

.org It is known mostly from large, non-palmated shed

antler Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) Family (biology), family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally fo ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2754276 Capreolinae Prehistoric deer Prehistoric Artiodactyla genera Pliocene Artiodactyla Pleistocene Artiodactyla Piacenzian first appearances Pleistocene genus extinctions Pleistocene mammals of South America Lujanian Ensenadan Uquian Sopas Formation Pleistocene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Pleistocene Brazil Fossils of Brazil Pleistocene Chile Fossils of Chile Pleistocene Uruguay Fossils of Uruguay Fossil taxa described in 1889 Taxa named by Florentino Ameghino