should learn from a cautionary tale from the extinction of the irish elk first eric what happened to the irish elk. well the irish elk was a was a maladaptive species ultimately so the irish elk. had enormous antlers and the antlers were according to one theory of its extinction were a major component of the sexual attraction of the males so it was a big part of sexual selection the apparently the female irish elk dug male alex with beginners. as as that process that preceded. the the large antlered elk would have large antlers offspring and they would grow a larger and larger which is such a generation's. ultimately we ended up with elk that had hundred pound antlers and they were ill suited to go to forage they were could have to keep their heads