Myotragus (SciiFii)

The Balearic Islands cave goat (Myotragus balearicus) is a species of bovid of the subfamily Caprinae which originally lived on the islands of Majorca and Menorca in the Pleistocene through the early Holocene and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and introduced to the modern islands of Majorca and Menorca to help boost biodiversity. Despite its name, it is not related to goats and is instead more closely related to sheep. Its eyes are not directed towards the sides, as are those of nearly all the herbivorous mammals, but towards the front like nearly all primates and carnivorans, granting them stereoscopic vision. The lower jaw contains two perennial-growth incisors, like rodents and lagomorphs, but not other ungulates. Both the lower and the upper jaw usually lacks other incisors, though some individual Balearic Islands cave goats have jaws containing vestigial second incisors. The rest of its teeth are molars and premolars adapted to the crushing of vegetal matter. The nose is short in comparison with the rest of the skull, similar to the noses of rabbits and hares. Finally, both sexes have at the top of the head two very short horns. The Balearic Islands cave goat is quite small in size, standing about 50 cm (20 inches) at the shoulder and weigh between 50 and 70 kg (110 and 150 lb). The legs are proportionately shorter than those of other related and less flexible bovids, which does not make the Balearic Islands cave goat exceptionally fast. This is not a serious problem because on the islands there are no predators except for some birds of prey, from which they hide in the vegetation. On the shoulders they have a pronounced hump, while the back is bent in the hindquarters. The legs, like many from the order Artiodactyla, has four fingers of which only two are used to walk. The tail is rather long in comparison to the rest of the body. Unlike many other mammals, the Balearic Islands cave goat has a slow metabolism and its adaptation to allow it to survive and adapt well to small islands, making it grow slowly in a manner similar to crocodilians and other reptiles. The conservation status of the Balearic Islands cave goat is Vulnerable due to historic habitat loss and invasive species, but thanks to conservationists, the Balearic Islands cave goat has made a comeback due to, not only no more human activities, but also due to the complete eradication of three major invasive species in the native range of the Balearic Islands cave goat, the wild boars, feral dogs, and feral cats.
Category:Animals
Category:SciiFii
Category:Mammals
Category:Cenozoic Park