Myotragus of the island of Majorca ("Myotragus pepgonellae") indicate that "Myotragus balearicus", in spite of being a browsing animal, descended originally from grazers. The closest related species to "Myotragus" are ovine, such as the extinct "Nesogoral" of the Plio-Pleistocene of Sardinia, the old "Gallogoral" of France (possible mainland ancestor of both "Myotragus" and "Nesogoral"), "Ovis" (present sheep and mouflon) and the mountain goats of Central Asia. The last ancestor common to "Myotragus" and "Nesogoral" arrived at Majorca and Sardinia around 6 million years ago, a time at which the Straits of Gibraltar were closed and the Mediterranean Sea was a small
Alternatives to animal testing performed on intact animals, the maintenance of cells in culture normally requires the use of animal-derived serum. Although exact figures are difficult to obtain, some have estimated that one million fetal cows are sacrificed each year to obtain the world's supply of fetal bovine serum, used to grow cultured cells. Skin irritation and skin corrosion refer to localized toxic effects resulting from a topical exposure of the skin to a substance. Human skin equivalent tests can be used to replace animal-based corrosive and irritative studies. EpiDerm from Mattek and EpiSkin and SkinEthic RHE model are derived from human skin cells