Myotragus
Reconstruction of the museum CosmoCaixa
The cave goat ( Myotragus balearicus ) is an extinct species of goat -like, which was native to the belonging to the Balearic Islands of Mallorca and Menorca.
Description
Six to seven species of the genus Chrono Myotragus are known which were native to the Balearic Islands since the Pliocene. The cave goat was the last surviving member of the genus. She is the first human settlers of the islands met about 7,000 years ago and was a prey for them. Obviously, the goat cave to be rare after the arrival of humans and retreat into remote mountains began. The recent skeletons date from the period around 1800 BC, so that the cave goat was probably about then eradicated. Conjecture that the cave goat has been domesticated and later replaced by goats from the mainland, are within the realm of speculation.
The name of the cave goat has been formed as an analogy to other animals of the Pleistocene, for example, the cave bear, cave lion and cave hyena to. In truth, there is no evidence that this animal would have a bond to caves. With a shoulder height of 45-60 centimeters and a weight of 50-70 kg this goat was relatively small; it was, however, strongly built and was characterized by very short legs and short, sharp horns. However, its most notable feature was extremely enlarged lower incisors; these teeth can best be compared with those of a beaver, and there are suspicions that the cave goat peeled the bark of trees with them.
Locations
In the prehistoric caves Cova de Muleta near Sóller (1908 ) and Son Gallard in Deia (1962 ), located in the mountains of the Serra de Tramuntana, skeletal parts of Myotragus balearicus by the team of archaeologist William H. Waldren were recovered; the fragments were brought into the Museum of Deia.
- Excavation site
- Finds Myotragus
- Skull Fund
Reconstructions and models
First description
In its first description Dorothea Bate went in 1909 on the assumption that the cave goat represented an island shape and their occurrence was restricted to the Pleistocene.