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

• Main Authors: Klinkhamer, Ada J, School of Environmental and Rural Science, Woodley, Nicholas, Neenan, James M, Parr, William C H, Clausen, Philip, Sánchez-Villagra, Marcelo R, Sansalone, Gabriele, orcid:0000-0003-3680-8418, Lister, Adrian M, Wroe, Stephen, orcid:0000-0002-6365-5915
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society Publishing 2019
• Subjects: Biological Adaptation; Palaeontology (incl. Palynology); Giganteus; Alces alces
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30565

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...