Abstract

SOUZA, Ana L. G.; CORREA, Margaret M. O.  and  PESSOA, Leila M.. The first description of the karyotype of Dasyprocta azarae Lichtenstein, 1823 (Rodentia, Dasyproctidae) from Brazil. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2007, vol.14, n.2, pp.227-233. ISSN 0327-9383.

The karyotype of Dasyprocta azarae has not been described previously. In this article we describe the karyotype of D. azarae from Northern Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Central Brazil. D. azarae has a diploid number 2n=64 and a number of autosomal arms NA=122. The 2n and NA are the same as those reported for other Brazilian species of Dasyprocta, but differ in chromosome morphology. Differences in the sex chromosomes were also found. The Y chromosome is acrocentric whereas in other Dasyprocta species is metacentric or submetacentric. The C-banding pattern coincides with that described for other species, except for pair six, having two bands of heterochromatin. The NOR patterns revealed intraindividual variation, with 1 to 6 NOR chromosomes. In the other species of Dasyprocta the NOR is present in only 1 pair. Although few data about morphological variation is available and restricted to color pattern, the small chromosomal differences observed among species of Dasyprocta are however, capable to differentiate taxa of the genus.

Keywords : C-banding; Conventional staining; NOR.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English     · English ( pdf )