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{{Short description|Extinct species of deer}}{{Speciesbox

Early Pliocene~{{Fossil range>4.9|3.6}}| image = Reconstruction_of_Bretzia_Pseudalces_skull_and_antlers.jpg| image_caption = Reconstruction of Bretzia pseudalces skull and antlers| extinct = yes| genus = Bretzia| species = pseudalces| authority = Fry & Gustafson, 1974}}Bretzia pseudalces, is a species of deer from the extinct genus Bretzia It is endemic to North America, with fossils found in the Ringold Formation in Washington. Taxonomy and evolution The genus Bretzia was named in 1974 by paleontologist Eric Paul Gustafson and his colleague Willis Fry. It was named after geologist J. Harlan Bretz. Bretzia pseudalces is notable for being one of the first deer to live in North America, and one of the earliest ancestors to all New World deer.WEB, 2015-10-12, Paleo Profile: The False Moose,weblink 2023-11-25, National Geographic, en, Fossils of sister species Bretzia nebrascensis has been found in Nebraska and South Dakota.JOURNAL, Gunnell, Gregg F., Foral, Alan, 1994, New Species of Bretzia (Cervidae; Artiodactyla) from the Latest Pleistocene or Earliest Holocene of Nebraska and South Dakota,weblink Journal of Mammalogy, 75, 2, 378–381, 10.2307/1382556, 1382556, 0022-2372, Description Bretzia pseudalces is known from fossils of its jaws, teeth, leg bones, vertebrae, and antlers, and overall had approximately the same body size as a modern mule deer. However, it is easily distinguished by its dramatic antlers, which form a large palmate structure from a single anterior tine and posterior beam, superficially resembling a modern moose antlers.JOURNAL, Gustafson, Eric Paul, 2015, An Early Pliocene North American Deer: Bretzia pseudalces, Its Osteology, Biology, and Place in Cervid History, 83622137, Paleoecology Bretzia pseudalces fossils are found with Teleoceras, Platygonus and Megatylopus, indicating they lived in the same space. The environment would have been mild and temperate, but seasonal,JOURNAL, Gustafson, Eric Paul, May 2015, Bassariscus from the Early Pliocene of Washington,weblink Northwest Science, 89, 2, 129–135, 10.3955/046.089.0204, 83532330, 0029-344X, allowing for water levels to rise and fall. The majority of B. pseudalces fossils recovered from White Bluffs in the Ringold formation were degraded to various degrees, and bones of fish and small rodents were most commonly found with them, indicating that they were buried in silt and mud from riparian areas, including marshes or oxbow lakes. References {{Reflist}}{{Taxonbar|from=Q104854930}}