Rebuilding the Cytogenetics of Atelognathus (Anura: Batrachylidae): Half a Century of Confusion

Abstract

The genus Atelognathus is composed of five species that occur in the southernmost regions of Argentina and Chile. It belongs to the Batrachylidae, one of the few endemic anuran families from Patagonia. More than 50 yr ago, it was concluded that A. reverberii had a diploid chromosomal complement of 2N = 26, a feature later reported for other congenerics. In this work, we describe the cytogenetics of all known species of Atelognathus (A. nitoi, A. patagonicus, A. praebasalticus, A. reverberii, and A. solitarius) and two additional undetermined populations. Unexpectedly, our analyses showed that all have a diploid chromosomal complement 2N = 24, which contrasts with conclusions of previous studies. We conclude that a karyotype of 2N = 24 is shared in Atelognathus as a derived condition within Batrachylidae. Additionally, we describe and discuss other cytogenetics characters (i.e., nucleolar organizer region location and C-banding patterns) of Atelognathus and related genera of Batrachylidae in an evolutionary framework.