{{Short description|Extinct genus of deer}} {{automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Early-Late Pleistocene (Uquian-Lujanian)<br>~{{fossil range|2.588|0.012}} | taxon = Antifer | authority = Ameghino 1889 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * ''A. crassus'' {{small|Rusconi 1954}} * ''A. niemeyeri'' * ''A. ultra'' }}
'''''Antifer''''' is an extinct genus of large herbivorous deer belonging to the tribe Odocoileini native to South America during the Pleistocene, becoming extinct around 12,000 years ago. It was one of the largest South American deer genera, with an estimated body mass of up to {{Convert|200|kg|lb}}, comparable to red deer, considerably exceeding the marsh deer, the largest living South American deer species in size. The genus has large antlers that could reach a length of over {{Convert|60|cm}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fontoura |first1=Emmanuelle |last2=Ferreira |first2=José Darival |last3=Bubadué |first3=Jamile |last4=Ribeiro |first4=Ana Maria |last5=Kerber |first5=Leonardo |date=October 2020 |title=Virtual brain endocast of Antifer (Mammalia: Cervidae), an extinct large cervid from South America |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmor.21243 |journal=Journal of Morphology |language=en |volume=281 |issue=10 |pages=1223–1240 |doi=10.1002/jmor.21243 |pmid=32815595 |issn=0362-2525|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
== Taxonomy == ''Antifer'' was named by Ameghino (1889) based on Captain Antifer in a Jules Verne novel describing his voyage of discovery in the Southern Hemisphere. It was assigned to Cervidae by Carroll (1988).<ref>R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company</ref>
== Fossil distribution == The fossil remains are confined to southern Brazil, the Sopas Formation of Uruguay, central Chile and Argentina.<ref name="FWAntifer">[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=42655 ''Antifer''] at Fossilworks.org</ref> It is known mostly from large, non-palmated shed antlers.
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2754276}} Category:Capreolinae Category:Prehistoric deer Category:Prehistoric Artiodactyla genera Category:Pliocene Artiodactyla Category:Pleistocene Artiodactyla Category:Piacenzian first appearances Category:Pleistocene genus extinctions Category:Pleistocene mammals of South America Category:Lujanian Category:Ensenadan Category:Uquian Category:Sopas Formation Category:Pleistocene Argentina Category:Fossils of Argentina Category:Pleistocene Brazil Category:Fossils of Brazil Category:Pleistocene Chile Category:Fossils of Chile Category:Pleistocene Uruguay Category:Fossils of Uruguay Category:Fossil taxa described in 1889 Category:Taxa named by Florentino Ameghino