Alces alces

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Long legs and broad hooves enable the moose to plow through deep snow and forage in water. It is the largest living member of the deer family .

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,911 meters (0 to 9,551 feet).[1]

Ecology: Alces alces is found in a range of woodland habitats , both coniferous and broadleaved, from the tundra and taiga southwards through boreal to temperate zones. It tends to prefer damp, marshy habitats and areas in close proximity to water. It is also found in open country in the lowlands and mountains, including farmland, if there is forest nearby. It thrives in secondary growth , and its population expansion in Scandinavia has been linked to the replacement of natural taiga forest by secondary woodland after logging (Bauer and Nygrén 1999). It feeds on vegetative parts of trees , shrubs , dwarf shrubs, herbs, and aquatic plants , and is a pest of agriculture and forestry in at least parts of its range (Ruusila and Kojola in press). The species has seasonal movements in parts of its range, particularly in northern Europe.[2].

List of Habitats:

• 1 Forest
• 1.1 Forest - Boreal
• 1.2 Forest - Subarctic
• 1.4 Forest - Temperate
• 5 Wetlands (inland)
• 5.4 Wetlands (inland) - Bogs , Marshes, Swamps , Fens , Peatlands
• 14 Artificial/Terrestrial
• 14.2 Artificial/Terrestrial - Pastureland

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Alces alces Linnaeus • Alces alces Linnaeus 1758

Similar Species

Members of the genus Alces

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 5 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. alces (European Elk) · A. alces buturlini (Moose) · A. alces cameloides (Eurasian Moose) · A. alces caucasicus (Moose) · A. americanus (Moose)

More Info

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• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A checklist of the vertebrate animals of Kansas / George D. Potts, Joseph T. Collins. [Lawrence, Kan.]: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, 1991. url p. 5.
• A manual of land and fresh water vertebrate animals of the United States (exclusive of birds) by Henry Sherring Pratt. .. with 184 illustrations. Philadelphia, Blakiston's[c1923] url p. 366.
• A review of the living representatives of the genus Alces / Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1952. url p. 10, p. 11, p. 12, p. 13, p. 14, p. 15, p. 16, p. 17, p. 21, p. 22, p. 23, p. 24, p. 8.
• Advances in the study of mammalian behavior / edited by John F. Eisenberg and Devra G. Kleiman. [Stillwater, Okla.]: American Society of Mammalogists; 1983. url p. 648, p. 649.
• An Arctic ecosystem: the coastal tundra at Barrow, Alaska / edited by Jerry Brown. .. [et al.]. Stroudsburg, Pa.: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross: c1980. url p. 9.
• Anatomischer Anzeiger. Jena: G. Fischer, 1886- url p. 48, p. 70.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. url p. 485.
• Appendices A-E: terrestrial resources injury assessment report: upper Clark Fork River NPL sites. Helena?, Mont.: Dept. of Justice?, 1995 url .
• Assessment of the Red Rock River subbasin and wetlands of the Centennial Valley / Helena, Mont.: Montana Natural Heritage Program, c2009. url p. 14.
• Beaver Lake: draft environmental impact statement. Olney, MT: Dept. of Natural Resources and Conservation, Stillwater Unit Office, Stillwater State Forest, 1998. url p. 21.
• Biodiversity trends and threats in Europe: development and test of a species trend indicator RIVM, UNEP-WCMC url p. 50, p. 51.
• Biosphere Reserves, Compilation 5, October 1990: programme on man and the biosphere (MAB) IUCN url p. 134, p. 171, p. 183.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) url p. 16, p. 16, p. 83.
• Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences Los Angeles, Calif.: The Academy, 1971- url p. 106.
• California fish and game. [San Francisco, etc.]: State of California, Resources Agency, Dept. of Fish and Game. url p. 141, p. 335.
• Catalogue of the Selous Collection of Big Game in the British Museum (Natural History). By J.G. Dollman, B.A. London, Printed by order of the Trustees, 1921. url p. 100, p. 100, p. 104, p. 104, p. 107, p. 107.
• Catalogue of the Selous collection of big game in the British museum (Natural History) by J.G. Dollman. LondonPrinted by order of the Trustees1921 url p. 100, p. 104, p. 107.
• Catalogue of the books, manuscripts, maps and drawings in the British Museum (Natural History) London: BM(NH), 1903-1940. url p. 744.
• Catalogue of the mammals of Western Europe (Europe exclusive of Russia) in the collection of the British Museum London: printed by order of the Trustees, 1912. url .
• Catalogue of the mammals of western Europe (Europe exclusive of Russia) in the collection of the British Museum / by Gerrit S. Miller. London: BMNH, 1912. url p. 978.
• Catalogue of the ungulate mammals in the British Museum (Natural History) by R. Lydekker. London, Printed by order of the Trustees, 1913-16. url , , p. 131, p. 137, p. 155, p. 164, p. 2, p. 230, p. 231, p. 232, p. 236, p. 237, p. 396, p. 399, p. 407, p.
• Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian mammals 1758 to 1946 / by J.R. Ellerman and T.C.S. Morrison-Scott. London: BM(NH), 1966. url p. 373.
• Directory of Wetlands of International Importance. IUCN url p. 108, p. 114, p. 522, p. 601, p. 757, p. 90, p. 96.
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• Ecologically significant wetlands in the Upper Yellowstone River watershed: including the Boulder, Clarks Fork Yellowstone, Shields, and Stillwater River drainages / Helena, Mont.: Montana Natural Heritage Program, 2001. url , , , .
• Effects of highways on wildlife and fish with special reference to Montana a ProCite literature collection / Bozeman, Mont.: Fish and Wildlife Management Program, Montana State University, 2001 url , , , , , , , .
• Electrophoretic patterns of serum proteins of neotropical bats (Chiroptera) / Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, c1974. url p. 24.
• Fauna of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska Peninsula, by Olaus J. Murie. Invertebrates and fishes collected in the Aleutians, 1936-38, by Victor B. Scheffer. Washington, Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1959 url , p. 329.
• Fishery bulletin / U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service: url p. 90.
• Fishery circular / U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Fisheries. [Washington]: The Bureau, 1931-1939. url p. 48, p. 5, p. 64, p. 73.
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• Four-footed Americans and their kin / New York: Macmillan, 1898. url .
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• General function of the gall bladder from the evolutionary standpoint, by Frank W. Gorham and Andrew Conway Ivy. 22 1938 Chicago, 1938. url p. 195.
• Global Biodiversity: status of the Earth's living resources WCMC url p. 359.
• Great Basin naturalist memoirs. 1983 [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. url p. 106, p. 149.
• Handbuch der Biologie der Wirbeltiere. Von Dr. M. Hilzheimer. unter Mitwirkung von Dr. Phil. O. Haempel. mikt 599 Textabbildungen. vii, 756 p.illus (part col.)26 cm. url p. 608.
• Indigenous and Traditional Peoples and Protected Areas: principles, guidelines and case studies IUCN url p. 62, p. 71.
• Ingalik contact ecology: an ethnohistory of the lower-middle Yukon, James W. VanStone, Curator, North American Archaeology and Ethnology, Field Museum of Natural History. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1979. url p. 12.
• International catalogue of scientific literature. LondonPublished for the International Council by the Royal Society of London1901-1920 url p. 381.
• Ixodidae / par L. G. Neumann. Berlin: R. Friedlander und sohn, 1911. url p. 101, p. 145.
• Ixodidae. BerlinR. Friedländer1911 url p. 145.
• Journal of ethnobiology. 12-13 1992-1993 Flagstaff, Ariz.: Center for Western Studies, 1981- url p. 253, p. 43.
• Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Oxford [etc.]Royal Microscopical Society. url p. 300.
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• MAB Biosphere Reserves: Site Descriptions, post compilation 5 (October 1990) UNESCO MAB Programme url .
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• Mammals of the Soviet Union / V.G. Heptner, A.A. Nasimovich, and A.G. Bannikov; scientific editor, Robert S. Hoffmann. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Libraries and National Science Foundation, 1988- url , p. 1062, p. 1101, p. 307, p. 317, p. 319, p. 332, p. 343, p. 359, p. 97.
• Management plan, Robb/Ledford wildlife management area. [Helena]:Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, [1999] url .
• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. 1965 Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1946-1996. url p. 15.
• Monograph of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas. Lawrence, Kan.: The Museum. url , p. 301, p. 302, p. 306, p. 320, p. 404, p. 412.
• Mule deer population organization, behavior and dynamics in a northern Rocky Mountain environment / [Bozeman?]: Montana Dept. of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, 1991] url .
• Natural history. New York: American Museum of Natural History. url p. 67.
• North American fauna. Washington: Fish and Wildlife Service; for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U. S. Govt. Print. Off. url , , p. 329.
• Nushagak: an historic trading center in southwestern Alaska / [by] James W. VanStone. [Chicago]Field Museum Press, 1972. url p. 79.
• Official lists and indexes of names and works in zoology. London, U.K.: International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o Natural History Museum, 2001. url p. 124.
• Our living resources: a report to the nation on the distribution, abundance, and health of U.S. plants, animals, and ecosystems / [edited by], Edward T. LaRoe. .. [et al.]. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Biological Service, 1995. url p. 347.
• Potential wildlife-highway interactions at select mile-markers along Montana Department of Transportation routes an ArcView GIS analysis / Bozeman, Mont.: Fish and Wildlife Management Program, Montana State University, 2001 url .
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 201, p. 201, p. 58.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url p. 2, p. 32, p. 58, p. 82.
• Protected Landscapes: experience around the world. Prepared for the International Symposium on Protected Landscapes, Grange-over-Sands, England 5-10 October 1987 IUCN url p. 170, p. 310, p. 57.
• Publications in palaentology = Publications en paleontologie. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, National Museum of Natural Sciences, 1970-1982. url p. 57.
• Publications in zoology = Publications en zoologie. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, National Museum of Natural Sciences, 1970-1982. url p. 159, p. 161, p. 25.
• Report / Field Museum of Natural History. [Chicago]: The Museum, [1968-1978] url p. 62.
• Research on fish and wildlife habitat / technical editor, William T. Mason, consulting editor, Sam Iker. Washington, D.C.Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1982. url p. 187.
• Science. New York, N.Y.: [s.n.]1880- url p. 877.
• Selected readings in mammalogy: selected from the original literature and introduced with comments / by J. Knox Jones, Jr., Sydney Anderson, and Robert S. Hoffmann. Lawrence, Kan.: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, 1976. url p. 220.
• Selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the United States / prepared by National Fish and Wildlife Laboratory, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [Washington]: The Service: [for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.], 1980. url p. 3.
• Seventy-five years of mammalogy, 1919-1994 / edited by Elmer C. Birney, Jerry R. Choate. [Provo, Utah]: American Society of Mammalogists, c1994. url p. 409.
• Special scientific report--wildlife / U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service, 1949- url p. 26.
• Sportsman's guide to game animals; a field book of North American species. with photos, by the author. Introd. by Richard G. Van Gelder. New York, Outdoor Life Books[1968] url p. 650.
• Standard values in nutrition and metabolism, being the second fascicle of a handbook of biological data. Prepared under the direction of the Committee on the Handbok of Biological Data, American Institute of Biological Sciences, National Research Council. Philadelphia, Saunders[1954] url p. 367.
• Studies in neotropical mammalogy: essays in honor of Philip Hershkovitz / edited by Bruce D. Patterson, Robert M. Timm. 39 1987 Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1987. url fig. 6 , p. 480, p. 497.
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Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.
• Henttonen, H., Stubbe, M., Maran, T. and Tikhonov A. 2008. Alces alces. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 30January2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 17, 2007:

• Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics, Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
• European Environment Agency, EUNIS
• Institute of Nature Conservation PAS, National System of Proetcted Areas
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Vertebrate specimens
• Mammal Research Institute PAS, Mammal Collection
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB, Paleobiology Database
• Royal Ontario Museum, Mammal specimens
• University of Alaska Museum of the North, University of Alaska Museum Mammal Collection
• University of Alaska Museum of the North, University of New Mexico Museum of Southwestern Biology Mammal Collection
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
• , Mammal specimens
• University of Washington Burke Museum, Mammal Specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 106069
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-180703
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 4490920
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 180703
• IUCN ID: 189683
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: AMALC03011
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 535

Footnotes

1. Mean = 28.890 meters (94.783 feet), Standard Deviation = 44.790 based on 140,515 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
2. Henttonen, H., Stubbe, M., Maran, T. & Tikhonov A. 2008. Alces alces. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 January 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.