THE SHAPE OF THE ANTLERS OF GIANT ELK (ME GALOCERUS-GIGANTEUS) FROM FINDINGS IN NORTH-RHINE-WESTPHALIA

Pictured (Figs. 1-3) and described are 3 completely or nearly complete ly preserved antler racks from findings or collections at Datteln, Bot trop, and Bonn in North Rhine/Westfalia. It is remarkable that among t hese completely preserved giant elk antlers from this area the outer p alms are respectively bent up upwards and to the inside.The antler mea surements (Table 1) are compared to other antler and prong fragments f rom North-rhine/Westfalia (Table 2), to specimens from the collection of the Hessian State museum in Darmstadt (Table 3), and to giant elk a ntlers from Ireland (Table 4). The data depict the total length of the antler, the length of the branch to the central prong, the length of the first tines, the circumference of the burr, the narrowest branch c ircumference, and the width of the palm above the central prong at the narrowest point. For other comparable findings from Germany, no state ments can be made concerning the development of the outer palm section s since only fragments with missing extremities were available (Fig. 5 ). Former considerations on the development of the inward curvature of the palm ends as discussed in this report are also presented.