Agalmaceros Temporal range: Pleistocene (Uquian-Lujanian) ~
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Cervidae
Subfamily:	Capreolinae
Genus:	†Agalmaceros Hoffstetter 1952
Species:	†A. blicki
Binomial name
†Agalmaceros blicki Frick 1937

Agalmaceros is a potentially invalid extinct genus of deer of the Cervidae family, that lived in South America during the Pleistocene. The only species currently known is A. blicki.^[1] Remains have only been found in Ecuador. It showed a clear affinity to Andean or temperate habitats.^[2] Agalmaceros blicki is estimated to have been 60 kilograms (130 lb) in weight.^[3]

A 2023 paper considered another extinct South American deer genus, Charitoceros, a junior synonym of Agalmaceros; both taxa are diagnosed by the presence of thorns on their antlers. Furthermore, these thorns are symptoms of a pathology that also affects some extant deer; besides thorns, the antlers of Agalmaceros are identical to those of the modern white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Thus, the authors consider Agalmaceros to be itself a junior synonym of O. virginianus, which would render both Agalmaceros and Charitoceros invalid taxa.^[4]

References