Eucladoceros was first created as a
subgenus of
Cervus (the genus that contains
red deer,
elk/wapiti, and
sika deer, among others) in a posthumous publication by British palaeontologist
Hugh Falconer in 1868, to contain the species
Cervus (
Eucladoceros)
sedgwickii, described from remains found in
Bacton,
Norfolk, England. It was later realised that this species is a
junior synonym of
Eucladoceros dicranios, named in 1841 by
Florentine naturalist
Filippo Nesti, director of the
Museum of Natural History of Florence, based on remains from the Upper
Valdarno region of Tuscany in northern Italy.
Eucladoceros is widely agreed to a be member of the tribe
Cervini, though its placement within this group has been debated. A 2017 study analysing the
bony labyrinth suggested that
Eucladoceros was most closely related to the living genera
Rusa (sambar) and
Cervus. Some authors have proposed a close relationship to the extinct "giant deer" genus
Praemegaceros.
Species •
Eucladoceros boulei Boule (1928), Age: Latest Pliocene - Early Pleistocene; Nihowan, China •
Eucladoceros ctenoides (former name
E. teguliensis) F. Nesti (1841), Age: Early Pleistocene, Late Villafranchian; Locus typicus: Upper Valdarno, Tuscany, Italy •
Eucladoceros dichotomus (Original citation:
Cervus (Elaphurus) dichotomus Teilhard de Chardin & Piveteau; Early Pleistocene of Nohowan; most probably is not a
Eucladoceros species) •
Eucladoceros dicranios Nesti (1841), Age: Early Pleistocene, Late Villafranchian; Upper Valdarno, Tuscany, Italy. Note: the type species of the genus. •
Eucladoceros proboulei Dong et Ye, 1996, Age: Early Pliocene; China •
Eucladoceros senezensis Depéret, 1910, Senèze (Haute-Loire), near
Brioude, France. Note: some authors regard it as a subspecies of
E. ctenoides. •
Eucladoceros tetraceros Boyd Dawkins (1878), Age: Early Pleistocene; Peyrolles, Haute-Loire, France. Note: a possible synonym of
E. ctenoides. •
Eucladoceros giulii Kahlke, 1997, late Early Pleistocene,
Untermassfeld, Germany (c 1.1 Ma), Venta Micena, Spain (c. 1.3 Ma). == Ecology ==