HOME | DD

Description
Here we have Merriamoceros, the Mini-Moose Pronghorn! This is actually one of the oldest known pronghorns, living from about 17 to 15 million years ago. But Merriamoceros had some of the most intricate cranial appendages in the family - small, flat, moose-like 'antler'-like horns. The tines were on top and along the outside edges of the horns. Like related species, these were likely initially covered in skin, which gradually rubbed off to expose the bone. Merriamoceros was quite a bit smaller than the modern pronghorn. What a pity it went extinct ... if it didn't it might have yielded some descendants with horns perhaps even more intricate than the modern deer! As I mention elsewhere, pronghorns are actually not closely related to deer, instead being related to giraffes and okapi's. Pencil drawing, coloured in Photoshop.

Description
Here we have Merriamoceros, the Mini-Moose Pronghorn! This is actually one of the oldest known pronghorns, living from about 17 to 15 million years ago. But Merriamoceros had some of the most intricate cranial appendages in the family - small, flat, moose-like 'antler'-like horns. The tines were on top and along the outside edges of the horns. Like related species, these were likely initially covered in skin, which gradually rubbed off to expose the bone. Merriamoceros was quite a bit smaller than the modern pronghorn. What a pity it went extinct ... if it didn't it might have yielded some descendants with horns perhaps even more intricate than the modern deer! As I mention elsewhere, pronghorns are actually not closely related to deer, instead being related to giraffes and okapi's. Pencil drawing, coloured in Photoshop.