Cervus elaphus vs elk

Cervus elaphus and elk both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
Cervus elaphus	Yes	No	No	No
elk	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, Cervus elaphus and elk are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of Cervus elaphus include American elk, red deer, wapiti.

Cervus elaphus (noun)	elk (noun)
common deer of temperate Europe and Asia	large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male; called `elk' in Europe and `moose' in North America
	common deer of temperate Europe and Asia
	large North American deer with large much-branched antlers in the male