Cytogenetic Studies on European Brown Hare, Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778 (Lagomorpha: Leporidae) in Turkey

Abstract

Summary In this study, the karyotype, C-heterochromatin blocks, and nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) of four specimens of Lepus europaeus from Turkey were examined. The diploid number of chromosomes (2n), the fundamental number of chromosome arms (FN), and the number of autosomal arms (FNa) were determined as 48, 90, and 86, respectively. All of the chromosomes have been determined to be possessed of centromeric constitutive heterochromatin, except of the pair no. 10. The X chromosome had centromeric heterochromatin and Y chromosome had pericentromeric heterochromatin. There were no distal C-bands in any chromosome of samples. The NORs have been determined to be located in the terminal regions of the long arms of three subtelocentric chromosomes (nos. 15, 16, and 18). Any relation was not determined between the localization of the NORs and C-positive regions of autosomes.