Giemsa banding patterns in the chromosomes of twelve species of cats (Felidae)

Abstract

The Giemsa banding patterns in the chromosomes of 12 cat species, all previously studied with conventional techniques, have been compared. Although the basic banding pattern is largely similar among the species, several species possess distinctive banding features. Banding has permitted identification of three, rather than two, types of F-group chromosomes and has revealed that the C3 chromosome in two species is the equivalent, by banding pattern, of the F2 and F3 chromosomes in other species. The banding pattern of the X chromosome is similar among all 12 felid species and is also similar to that of the other mammalian species with “original-type” submetacentric X chromosomes which have been studied in this laboratory.