Head to head: the case for fighting behaviour in Megaloceros giganteus using finite-element analysis

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Main Authors: Klinkhamer, Ada J., Woodley, Nicholas, Neenan, James M., Parr, William C. H., Clausen, Philip, Sánchez-Villagra, Marcelo R., Sansalone, Gabriele, Lister, Adrian M., Wroe, Stephen
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2019
• Subjects: Palaeobiology; Giganteus; Alces alces
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6790765/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31594504; https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1873

The largest antlers of any known deer species belonged to the extinct giant deer Megaloceros giganteus. It has been argued that their antlers were too large for use in fighting, instead being used only in ritualized displays to attract mates. Here, we used finite-element analysis to test whether the...