The giant deer (*Megaloceros giganteus*) survived in parts of Siberia and the Russian Far East until roughly 7,700 years ago — far later than once assumed, a revision that came from direct radiocarbon dating of antler remains recovered from Russian permafrost. The Moscow Mint's ongoing natural history series has increasingly drawn on paleontological subjects tied specifically to the Russian fossil record, and this specimen fits squarely within that pattern.
The giant deer (*Megaloceros giganteus*) survived in parts of Siberia and the Russian Far East until roughly 7,700 years ago — far later than once assumed, a revision that came from direct radiocarbon dating of antler remains recovered from Russian permafrost. The Moscow Mint's ongoing natural history series has increasingly drawn on paleontological subjects tied specifically to the Russian fossil record, and this specimen fits squarely within that pattern.