Libralces
| Libralces Temporal range: Pliocene
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| Libralces gallicus | |
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| Family: | Carroll 1988[1]
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| Subfamily: | Odocoilinae
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| Genus: | †Libralces Azzaroli 1952[1]
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Libralces was a genus of Eurasian deer that lived during the Pliocene period. The genus' main claim to fame are their 2+ meter wide antlers, comparable in size with those of Megaloceros.
Fossils of Libralces have been found from France to Tajikistan[1] with best known the French L. gallicus.
According to Jordi Agustí, Libracles was the ancestor of Megaloceros, though, most other authorities regard it as a relative of moose, Alces.
In the Pleistocene, there were three genera of Holarctic moose-like deer — Cervalces, Alces, and Libralces. In contrast to modern Alces, the Villafranchian Libralces gallicus had very long-beamed, small-palmed antlers and a generalized skull with moderately reduced nasals; the Nearctic Cervalces had longer nasals and more complex antlers than Libralces. Azzaroli 1953 added Alces latiforns to Libralces, but this position has been challenged.[2]
Gallery
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Partial skull of Libralces latifrons
References
- ^ a b c "Libralces". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved September 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Kurtén, Björn; Anderson, Elaine (1980). Pleistocene Mammals of North America. Columbia University Press. p. 315. ISBN 9780231037334.
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