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A new species of Myotragus Bate, 1909 (Artiodactyla, Caprinae) from the Early Pliocene of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2010

PERE BOVER ,
JOSEP QUINTANA  and
JOSEP ANTONI ALCOVER
PERE BOVER*
Affiliation:
IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats, Departament de Biodiverstat i Conservació, Cr Miquel Marquès 21, 07190 Esporles, Illes Balears, Spain Research Associate, Division of Vertebrate Zoology/Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York 10024 NY, USA
JOSEP QUINTANA
Affiliation:
Cr Gustau Mas 79-1er, 07760 Ciutadella de Menorca (Illes Balears, Spain)
JOSEP ANTONI ALCOVER
Affiliation:
IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats, Departament de Biodiverstat i Conservació, Cr Miquel Marquès 21, 07190 Esporles, Illes Balears, Spain Research Associate, Division of Vertebrate Zoology/Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York 10024 NY, USA
*
†Author for correspondence: perebover@imedea.uib-csic.es
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Abstract

Myotragus palomboi n.sp. (Artiodactyla, Caprinae) is described from the Early Pliocene of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean). This species is the earliest representative of the Myotragus lineage known to date in the Balearic Islands. A metatarsal, and several teeth and postcranial remains were found in a karstic deposit located on the east coast of the island, near Caló den Rafelino (Manacor), together with remains of Hypolagus, two rodent species, an insectivore and several reptiles. The metatarsal and phalanges of the new bovid are short and robust and display a combination of characters only observed in Myotragus. The presence of a larger p2, a metatarsal robustness index lower than in M. pepgonellae (the earliest known species to date), together with the morphology of the incisors, all suggest that M. palomboi should be considered as the ancestor of M. pepgonellae. Short metapodials and the reduction of p2 displayed by M. palomboi could be linked to a first stage of evolution in insular conditions. The arrival of this bovid to the island of Mallorca probably took place during the Mediterranean Messinian Salinity Crisis (Late Miocene, 5.6–5.32 Ma ago). Although the relationship of the new taxon to other fossil caprines cannot be definitively established, it could be phylogenetically close to the Late Miocene European species Aragoral mudejar and Norbertia hellenica.

Keywords

Myotragusnew speciesEarly PlioceneMallorcataxonomy
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 147 , Issue 6 , November 2010 , pp. 871 - 885
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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