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
Ovine rinderpest gene. Lineages I and II are found mainly in West Africa. Lineage III is generally found in East Africa. Lineage IV was long known as the Asian lineage, but has now spread to the African continent and become the most prevalent lineage of all. This virus appears to have evolved at the start of the 20th century in Nigeria. The extant genotypes subsequently appeared in West Africa (lineages I and II), East Africa and Arabia (lineage III), and Pakistan–India (lineage IV). The first description of the disease was published in 1942 and relates to an outbreak in Côte d’Ivoire, West