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THIS was clearly no ordinary goat. Myotragus balearicus, which lived on the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea until 3000 years ago, had bones that resembled those of a reptile.
Cold-blooded animals go through phases of slow growth that leave telltale rings in their bones. This slowdown allows them to live in areas where food is limited. Now Meike Köhler and Salvador Moyà-Solà of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, have spotted reptile-like rings in fossilised M. balearicus. This could explain how the species survived 5.2 million years in…
