The bony labyrinth of Myotragus balearicus (Mammalia, Ruminantia, Bovidae) compared to caprine relatives
摘要
Myotragus balearicus Bate, 1909 is an endemic Late Pleistocene to Holocene goat-like caprine that has been extensively studied for its morphological peculiarities related to a long isolation on the Balearic Islands. It is a classic example of the ‘Island Syndrome’ producing dwarf taxa with regards to their mainland relatives. Its sense organs (i.e., organs for sight and olfaction) have been investigated and generally testify to a strong impact of evolution in isolation. To the contrary, the bony labyrinth of its inner ear, where the sensory organs for hearing and balance are located, has never been published so far. We here describe the bony labyrinth of M. balearicus on a sample of four different specimens from two different Mallorcan caves and compare it to extant relatives inside the clade Caprinae. We show that the size of the bony labyrinth perfectly fits in the general scaling relationship between bony labyrinth size and body size within Bovidae, which is indicative of negative allometry. While our sample is small, morphological variation still seems limited to a slight undulation and shape difference of the lateral semicircular canal, a pattern already known in other ruminant species. Under the limitations of sample size, the effect of reduced resources, ecological interactions or environmental conditions on the island is not evidenced here. We further identify characters of the bony labyrinth that can be related to phylogenetic history linking all caprines together, and even specific to the clade gathering Myotragus and Oreamnos.