The youngest and best known species, M. balearicus, is noted for a number of unusual morphological adaptions, including forward facing eyes suggestive of binocular vision, as well as a long lifespan, which developed in an unusual ecosystem where only a few other mammal species were present, terrestrial predators were absent, and Myotragus functioned as the only major herbivore.

[2] However, analysis of a complete mitochondrial genome of M. balearicus published in 2019 found that its closest living relative is the takin (Budorcas taxicolor), native to the eastern Himalayas with an estimated divergence around 7.1 million years ago.

[3] Bos Pantholops (Tibetan antelope) †Bootherium (Helmeted muskox) Ovibos (Musk ox) Capricornis (Serow) Naemorhedus (Goral) Ovis (Sheep) Oreamnos (Mountain goat) Budorcas (Takin) †Myotragus Rupicapra (Chamois) Ammotragus (Barbary sheep) Arabitragus (Arabian tahr) Pseudois (Bharal) Hemitragus (Himalayan tahr) Capra (Markhor, ibexes, goats) The ancestor of Myotragus likely arrived in the Balearic Islands during the Messinian stage of the late Miocene at a time at which the Strait of Gibraltar closed and the Mediterranean Sea evaporated, reducing sea level within the basin by 800–1200 metres, in an event called the Messinian salinity crisis (spanning from 5.96 to 5.33 million years ago), allowing dispersal from the Iberian Peninsula to the Balearics.

[10] Later on, the re-opening of the straits and the refilling of the Mediterranean at the beginning of the Pliocene around 5.3 million years ago isolated the animal populations on the islands.

The changes in morphology Myotragus developed over the course of its evolution were probably driven by resource limitation on the relatively resource poor Balearics, with the lack of competitors leading to increased intraspecific competition, and the absence of effective predators meaning the population would periodically outstrip the carrying capacity of the islands, resulting in the denudation of most vegetation and consequently mass starvation,[7][11][9] with only a small proportion of the population surviving a starvation episode, leading to strong selection pressure.

[15] The species of Myotragus show a sequential reduction in the number of teeth through time, with M. balearicus having an adult dentition comprising a single evergrowing (hypselodont) incisor (a feature highly unusual among bovids), one premolar, and three molars in each half of the lower jaw, and two premolars and three molars in each half of the upper jaw.

[19] While tooth morphology and tooth texture suggests that some earlier Myotragus species may have been grazers or mixed feeders (consuming both grass and browse),[17] preserved coprolites of M. balearicus indicates that it was likely predominantly a browser, and heavily dependent on the native boxwood species Buxus balearica for a large part of its diet.

[17] The bone histology of M. balearicus shows lamellar-zonal tissue throughout the cortex, with lines of arrested growth indicating periods where growing ceased.

[26] Based on skeletochronology and dental durability analysis, some individuals of M. balearicus are likely to have reached a lifespan of 27 years, which is exceptionally long relative to its body size.

The estimated mortality rates are substantially lower than those found for other members of Bovidae, with a large proportion of individuals surviving into old age.

[29] The smaller brain likely represents an optimisation to the animal's energy budget, as neural tissue is energetically expensive to maintain, and better developed senses were unnecessary in a resource limited environment where there was little need to detect predators.

[29] Diverse datings indicate that the three native terrestrial mammals of Mallorca and Menorca (Myotragus balearicus, the giant dormouse Hypnomys and the large shrew Nesiotites hidalgo) disappeared all in the same very short period of time, during the third millennium BC.