Clueless former psychology professor tells us that climate change killed off the Irish elk

Sept '08: Programmed for extinction? - Morristown Green - NJ.com

The Irish elk developed massive antlers that served it well--until the climate suddenly changed. The animal became extinct.

Oct '04: Extinct Giant Deer Survived Ice Age, Study Says

The presence of humans may help explain why the Irish elk was unable to tough out the latest of many climatic fluctuations—periods it had survived in the past.

Meanwhile, Lister cast doubt on another possible explanation for the deer's demise—the male's huge antlers.

Some scientists have suggested this exaggerated feature—the result of females preferring stags with the largest antlers, possibly because they advertised a male's fitness—contributed to the mammal's downfall. They say such antlers would have been a serious inconvenience in the dense forests that spread northward after the last ice age.

But, Lister said, "That's a hard argument to make, because the deer previously survived perfectly well through wooded interglacials [warmer periods between ice ages]."

Moose Competition

He added, however, that the animal may have also suffered from increased competition from other species such as moose, which spread rapidly once the climate warmed.