大角鹿
Although abundant skeletal remains have been found in bogs in Ireland, the animal was not exclusive to Ireland nor closely related to either of the living species currently called elk: "Alces alces" (the European elk, known in North America as the moose) or "Cervus canadensis" (the North American elk or wapiti). For this reason, the name "giant deer" is used in some publications, instead of "Irish elk". Although one study suggested that the Irish elk was closely related to the red deer ("Cervus elaphus"), most other phylogenetic analyses support that their closest living relatives are fallow deer ("Dama dama").