The Irish Elk, the Worlds Biggest Deer

The Irish Elk, the World's Biggest Deer Although Megaloceros is commonly known as the Irish Elk, its important to understand that this genus comprised nine separate species, only one of which (Megaloceros giganteus) reached true elk-like proportions. Also, the name Irish Elk is something of a double misnomer. First, Megaloceros had more in common with modern deer than American or European Elks, and, second, it didnt live exclusively in Ireland, enjoying a distribution across the expanse of Pleistocene Europe. (Other, smaller Megaloceros species ranged as far afield as China and Japan.)    The Irish Elk, M. giganteus, was far and away the largest deer that ever lived, measuring about eight feet long from head to tail and weighing in the neighborhood of 500 to 1,500 pounds. What really set this megafauna mammal apart from its fellow ungulates, though, were its enormous, ramifying, ornate antlers, which spanned almost 12 feet from tip to tip and weighed just short of 100 pounds. As with all such structures in the animal kingdom, these antlers were strictly a sexually selected characteristic; males with more ornate appendages were more successful in intra-herd combat, and thus more attractive to females during mating season. Why didnt these top-heavy antlers cause Irish Elk males to tip over? Presumably, they also had exceptionally strong necks, not to mention a finely tuned sense of balance. The Extinction of the Irish Elk Why did the Irish Elk go extinct shortly after the last Ice Age, on the cusp of the modern era, 10,000 years ago? Well, this may have been an object lesson in sexual selection run amok: Its possible that dominant Irish Elk males were so successful and so long-lived that they crowded other, less-well-endowed males out of the gene pool, the result being excessive inbreeding. An overly inbred Irish Elk population would be unusually susceptible to disease or environmental changesay, if an accustomed source of food disappearedand prone to sudden extinction. By the same token, if early human hunters targeted alpha males (perhaps wishing to use their horns as ornaments or magic totems), that, too, would have had a disastrous effect on the Irish Elks prospects for survival. Because it went extinct so recently, the Irish Elk is a candidate species for de-extinction. What this would mean, in practice, is harvesting remnants of Megaloceros DNA from preserved soft tissues, comparing these with the gene sequences of still-extant relatives (perhaps the much, much smaller Fallow Deer or Red Deer), and then breeding the Irish Elk back into existence via a combination of gene manipulation, in-vitro fertilization, and surrogate pregnancy. It all sounds easy when you read it, but each of these steps poses significant technical challengesso you shouldnt expect to see an Irish Elk at your local zoo anytime soon! Name: Irish Elk; also known as  Megaloceros giganteus  (Greek for giant horn); pronounced meg-ah-LAH-seh-russ Habitat: Plains of Eurasia Historical Epoch: Pleistocene-Modern (two million-10,000 years ago) Size and Weight: Up to eight feet long and 1,500 pounds Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Large size; large, ornate horns on head

100 Exquisite Adjectives

100 Exquisite Adjectives 100 Exquisite Adjectives 100 Exquisite Adjectives By Mark Nichol Adjectives descriptive words that modify nouns often come under fire for their cluttering quality, but often it’s quality, not quantity, that is the issue. Plenty of tired adjectives are available to spoil a good sentence, but when you find just the right word for the job, enrichment ensues. Practice precision when you select words. Here’s a list of adjectives: Adamant: unyielding; a very hard substance Adroit: clever, resourceful Amatory: sexual Animistic: quality of recurrence or reversion to earlier form Antic: clownish, frolicsome Arcadian: serene Baleful: deadly, foreboding Bellicose: quarrelsome (its synonym belligerent can also be a noun) Bilious: unpleasant, peevish Boorish: crude, insensitive Calamitous: disastrous Caustic: corrosive, sarcastic; a corrosive substance Cerulean: sky blue Comely: attractive Concomitant: accompanying Contumacious: rebellious Corpulent: obese Crapulous: immoderate in appetite Defamatory: maliciously misrepresenting Didactic: conveying information or moral instruction Dilatory: causing delay, tardy Dowdy: shabby, old-fashioned; an unkempt woman Efficacious: producing a desired effect Effulgent: brilliantly radiant Egregious: conspicuous, flagrant Endemic: prevalent, native, peculiar to an area Equanimous: even, balanced Execrable: wretched, detestable Fastidious: meticulous, overly delicate Feckless: weak, irresponsible Fecund: prolific, inventive Friable: brittle Fulsome: abundant, overdone, effusive Garrulous: wordy, talkative Guileless: naive Gustatory: having to do with taste or eating Heuristic: learning through trial-and-error or problem solving Histrionic: affected, theatrical Hubristic: proud, excessively self-confident Incendiary: inflammatory, spontaneously combustible, hot Insidious: subtle, seductive, treacherous Insolent: impudent, contemptuous Intransigent: uncompromising Inveterate: habitual, persistent Invidious: resentful, envious, obnoxious Irksome: annoying Jejune: dull, puerile Jocular: jesting, playful Judicious: discreet Lachrymose: tearful Limpid: simple, transparent, serene Loquacious: talkative Luminous: clear, shining Mannered: artificial, stilted Mendacious: deceptive Meretricious: whorish, superficially appealing, pretentious Minatory: menacing Mordant: biting, incisive, pungent Munificent: lavish, generous Nefarious: wicked Noxious: harmful, corrupting Obtuse: blunt, stupid Parsimonious: frugal, restrained Pendulous: suspended, indecisive Pernicious: injurious, deadly Pervasive: widespread Petulant: rude, ill humored Platitudinous: resembling or full of dull or banal comments Precipitate: steep, speedy Propitious: auspicious, advantageous, benevolent Puckish: impish Querulous: cranky, whining Quiescent: inactive, untroublesome Rebarbative: irritating, repellent Recalcitrant: resistant, obstinate Redolent: aromatic, evocative Rhadamanthine: harshly strict Risible: laughable Ruminative: contemplative Sagacious: wise, discerning Salubrious: healthful Sartorial: relating to attire, especially tailored fashions Sclerotic: hardening Serpentine: snake-like, winding, tempting or wily Spasmodic: having to do with or resembling a spasm, excitable, intermittent Strident: harsh, discordant; obtrusively loud Taciturn: closemouthed, reticent Tenacious: persistent, cohesive, Tremulous: nervous, trembling, timid, sensitive Trenchant: sharp, penetrating, distinct Turbulent: restless, tempestuous Turgid: swollen, pompous Ubiquitous: pervasive, widespread Uxorious: inordinately affectionate or compliant with a wife Verdant: green, unripe Voluble: glib, given to speaking Voracious: ravenous, insatiable Wheedling: flattering Withering: devastating Zealous: eager, devoted Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Punctuate References to Dates and Times"Confused With" and "Confused About"Quiet or Quite?