Ballaugh Elk

In 1819 Thomas Kewish, a blacksmith, and James Taubman, a local brewer, discovered the nearly perfect skeleton of an extinct “elk” in a marl pit at Ballaugh, Isle of Man. Kewish reassembled the bones and put the specimen on display.

The Ballaugh Elk of 1819 on display at the National Museum of Scotland.

The Duke of Atholl claimed this unique specimen for himself which caused Kewish to dramatically smuggle the skeleton to England. The Duke's men eventually caught up to him, and gave the bones to Edinburgh University Museum. After many years in storage there, it is now once again on display.

It was the first complete skeleton of this species (Megaloceros giganteus) to be discovered in the world and appears to be the only Pleistocene vertebrate known to have lived on the island.

References

Ling, Joy; The Ballaugh Elk of 1819; October 2008

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