In an excerpt from his latest book, Michael Viney examines the history and demise of the great Irish elk and deer. Among the odder events on the rooftops of Dublin city in the spring of 1985 were ...

Today we call it the Irish elk, or Megaloceros giganteus. The biggest males weighed 1,500 pounds, about the same as an Alaskan moose, and they sported the largest antlers the world has ever known ...

For decades we thought the Irish elk’s body size alone explained why it had enormous antlers, but the truth may be more complicated. Close. Advertisement. Skip to content. Sign in.