Eucladoceros

Eucladoceros (Greek for "well-branched antler") is an extinct genus of large deer whose fossils have been discovered across Eurasia, from Europe to China, spanning from the Early Pliocene to the end of the Early Pleistocene. The various species of the genus are noted for their unusual comb-like or branching antlers, though antler shape varied considerably between different species.

==Description== left|thumb|Skull of Eucladoceros ctenoides (labelled under the synonymous name E. senezensis) Species of Eucladoceros were large-sized deer. The European species E. dicranios and E. ctenoides are suggested to have had a body mass of , respectively supplementary material while East Asian E. boulei is suggested to have reached body masses of . Body size of European species increased over time. E. giulii has been estimated to have had a body mass of and a shoulder height of while E. senezensis has an estimated shoulder height of . Species of Eucladoceros are noted for their branching antlers, with a large number of tines projecting from the front part of the main antler beam. In many species like Eucladoceros ctenoides the antlers have a comb-like branching pattern, while those of the type species Eucladoceros dicranios has a more complex dichotomous branching pattern. The antlers of E. dicranios are proportionally large relative to body size, and are among the largest antlers known among deer. The teeth of Eucladoceros species are similar in some aspects to those of the genus Cervus, but lack certain derived characters typical of the teeth of that genus. The shape of the lesser trochanter near the top of the femur is considered an important character to distinguish Eucladoceros from Praemegaceros.