The first cytogenetic description of Euleptes europaea (Gené, 1839) from Northern Sardinia reveals the highest diploid chromosome number among sphaerodactylid geckos (Sphaerodactylidae, Squamata)

By

Gornung, Ekaterina
Mosconi, Fabio
Annesi, Flavia
Castiglia, Riccardo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2013

Original Publication

Comparative cytogenetics : international journal of plant & animal cytogenetics, karyosystematics and molecular systematics

Volume

7

Series / Issue

Issue: 2

Pages

153-161

Subjects

chromosomal evolution , Gekkota , karyotype , Sauria , telomeric repeats , XY male heterogamety

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

St. Petersburg, Russia [Published] with technical support of Zoological Institute RAS [2007]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/compcytogen.v7i2.4881

 

Abstract

The karyotype of a sphaerodactylid gecko Euleptes europaea (Gené, 1839) was assembled for the first time in this species. It is made of 2n = 42 gradually decreasing in size chromosomes, the highest chromosome number so far acknowledged in the family Sphaerodactylidae. The second chromosome pair of the karyotype appears slightly heteromorphic in the male individual. Accordingly, FISH with a telomeric probe revealed an uneven distribution of telomeric repeats on the two homologues of this pair, which may be indicative of an XY sex-determination system in the species, to be further investigated.