Praemegaceros (SciiFii)

Praemegaceros is a genus of deer. It also contains the subgenera Orthogonoceros and Nesoleipoceros. It has sometimes been synonymised with Megaloceros, however they have been found to have been genetically distinct.[1]

P. obscurus is the earliest known species from the Early Pleistocene of Europe, and had long, crooked antlers. P. verticornis is an Early to Mid-Pleistocene species, closely related to P. obscurus, which lived throughout Southern Europe.[2][3] Praemegaceros fossils has been discovered in France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Romania, Russia Spain, Syria, and Tajikistan.[4][5][6]

P. cazioti survived into the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene, in isolation in Sardinia until human colonisation in 5500 BCE.[7]