Chromosomal analysis of twelve species ofMicrohylidae(Anura) from Madagascar

✍ Scribed by R. M. A. Blommers-Schlösser

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1976
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 665 KB
• Volume: 46
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0016-6707
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00121036

✦ Synopsis

The karyotypes of four species of Dyscophinae and eight species of Cophylinae were analyzed. The chromosome number was 2n = 26 in all cases. Between the two subfamilies a difference in the form of the karyotype was observed; the chromosomes show a gradual decrease in length in the Dyscophinae, whereas in the Cophylinae the karyotype demonstrates a clear discontinuity of size between pairs 5 and 6.

Chromosomal polymorphism was found in Plethodontohyla tuberata, the chromosomes of pair 4 were subtelocentric in the homozygous specimens, whereas this pair showed a subtelocentric and a submetacentric chromosome of equal length in the heterozygous one, suggesting a pericentric inversion. Although in the Cophylinae the chromosome number is constant, the number of chromosome arms is variable. Pericentric inversions seem to play an important role in the chromosomal evolution of the Cophylinae.