My old friend Molar

One of my molars, a faithful friend for the last 60 odd years became seriously ill last week and had to be extensively drilled and filled. Alas, the treatment was less than successful and this morning poor old molar and I were torn apart, and he was dispatched to that place where old molars go.

I did think of photographing him but decided that he wasn't looking his best, far from it in fact. So, instead here is an even older, old molar for your delectation. This one is probably over 20,000 years old and is from the so called Giant Irish Elk, Megaloceros giganteus, which is now extinct. The name of the animal is completely misleading, apart from the giganteus bit which correctly indicates that this was a giant of an animal, probably the largest deer that has ever lived. However, Megaloceros from the Greek: megalos + keras, means "Great Horn" and of course deer don't have horns, they have antlers! Furthermore the Irish Elk wasn't an elk at all but most closely related to the modern Fallow deer. Finally, although remains have been found in Irish bogs, the species lived right across Eurasia, from Ireland to east of Lake Baikal. The species flourished during the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene and the latest known remains have been carbon dated to about 7,700 years ago.