Paleoparasitological analysis of the extinct Myotragus balearicus Bate 1909 (Artiodactyla, Caprinae) from Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean)

- We present here the first paleoparasitological analysis of Myotragus balearicus.
- Microscopic and ELISA were important techniques to detect Entamoeba sp. and Cryptosporidium sp., respectively.
- The study shows the success of the host-parasite relationship by protozoa, especially in the group of ruminants.
- The effects of the change in the parasitic infections of M. balearicus could have contributed to its extinction.

Myotragus balearicus (Artiodactyla, Caprinae) is an extinct caprine endemic of the Eastern Balearic Islands or Gymnesics (i.e., Mallorca, Menorca and surrounding islets, Western Mediterranean Sea). In spite of its small size, c. 50 cm height at the shoulder, it was the largest mammal inhabiting these islands until the human arrival, and it had peculiar short legs and frontal vision. It disappeared between 2830 and 2210 cal BCE. The coprolites here studied were recovered from Cova Estreta, in Pollença, Mallorca. The samples were subjected to microscopic examination and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for E. histolytica/E. dispar, Giardia intestinalis and Cryptosporidium parvum. This study provides new paleoparasitological data from an extinct animal species of the Holocene period. The microscopy revealed one sample containing uninucleated-cyst of Entamoeba sp., whereas ELISA detected nine positive samples for Cryptosporidium sp. The finding of these protozoans can help in the discussion of its extinction cause and demonstrates the antiquity and the evolutionary history of host-parasite relationships between protozoa and caprines since the Messinian.

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