Taxonomy and systematics of large-sized deer of the genus Praemegaceros PORTIS, 1920 (Cervidae, Mammalia) With 20 figs Roman CROITOR Abstract A taxonomical and systematic revision of the cervid genus Praemegaceros PORTIS is proposed in the article. The genus Praemegaceros is known from the Pleistocene of Europe, from some Mediterranean islands and from the eastern Mediterranean area. It includes five mainland species and an insular small-sized spe- cies. The type species, Praemegaceros dawkinsi, from the Middle Pleistocene of England and Northern France, is a small descent of the larger, Late Villafranchian P. obscurus. Three parallel lineages within the genus Praemegaceros are designated as subgenera: Praemegaceros, Orthogonoceros and Nesoleipoceros. Megaceroides JOLEAUD is suggested as an inappropriate genus name for this group of cervids, because Mega- ceroides is typified by the strongly specialised, endemic North African species M. algericus Key words: Praemegaceros, Megaceroides, taxonomy, systematics, morphology, Pleistocene Author’s address: Dr. Roman CROITOR, Economies, Sociétées et Environnements Prehistoriques (ESEP) Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l’Homme, 5 rue du Château de l’Horloge, BP 647, 13097 Aix-en-Provence, France, <romancroitor@europe.com> © E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (Nägele u. Obermiller), 2006, ISSN 0341-4116 Introduction The deer of the genus Praemegaceros are important and very characteristic faunal elements in the Early and Middle Pleistocene of Europe. However, the taxonomical and systematical controversies and confusions impede the implication of those giant cervids in the biostratigraphic, evolutionary and paleoecological studies. SOERGEL (1927) had included all Pleistocene large-sized deer in the genus Megaloceros BROOKS (originally named Megalocerus BROOKS) (= Megaceros OWEN). However, such a simplistic approach to the systematics does not describe properly the phylogeny of large-sized deer and obscures the evolution- ary features of this cervid group. The large body size used as a main diagnostic character of the genus of the giant cervids has no systematical value, but it rather is the result of a general evolutionary trend and a specific ecological adaptation, which may be recognized in many cervid lin- eages. AZZAROLI (1953, 1961) proposed to divide the giant deer into two informal groups, the “giganteus” group, typi- fied by the Middle and Late Pleistocene M. giganteus, and the “verticornis” group, which included “M.” verticornis and closely related Early and Middle Pleistocene species. KAHLKE (1956) introduced the genus name Orthogonoc- eros whose type species was Cervus verticornis DAWKINS for the formal taxonomic designation of the “verticornis” group. Later on, KAHLKE (1965) recognized the priority of PORTIS’ (1920) genus name Praemegaceros, typified by Cervus dawkinsi NEWTON from England, which is a small and imperfectly known species. This systemati- cal procedure was questioned by AZZAROLI (1979) who insisted that none of the names proposed by PORTIS has right of priority because their meaning had never been defined. Because of the unclear evolutionary relationships of Praemegaceros dawkinsi, any attribution to the genus Praemegaceros is still fraught with doubt. RADULESCO & SAMSON (1967) accepted the name Praemegaceros and proposed a formal definition of the genus. LISTER (1993) noted that the explicitly designated type species and defi- nition published by subsequent authors makes the genus name Praemegaceros valid for use. Another imperfectly known species, Megaceroides algericus (LYDEKKER) from Late Pleistocene and Holo- cene of North-west Africa, is included in the “verticor- nis” group. AMBROSETTI (1967) designated AZZAROLI’s “giganteus” and “verticornis” groups as the subgenera Megaceros and Megaceroides, respectively, of the genus Megaloceros. Those subgenera were then elevated to the genus rank (AZZAROLI & MAZZA 1992). The type species of Megaceroides, M. algericus, is actually more bizarre and aberrant than Praemegaceros dawkinsi. The original description of Cervus algericus was based on the left up- Cour. Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg 256 91–116 20 Figs Frankfurt a. M., 15. 11. 2006