Cytogenetic study on the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) (Mammalia: Lagomorpha) in Turkey

Conventional and GTC, CTC, and AgNO3 banded karyotypes of brown hares (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) from Turkey are described for the first time. All specimens possessed a diploid number of 2n = 48 chromosomes and a fundamental autosomal number of NFa = 88. | Turk J Biol 34 (2010) 247-252 © TÜBİTAK doi: Cytogenetic study on the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) (Mammalia: Lagomorpha) in Turkey Yasin DEMİRBAŞ, Nursel AŞAN, İrfan ALBAYRAK University of Kırıkkale, Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Biology, 71451 Yahşihan, Kırıkkale - TURKEY Received: Abstract: Conventional and GTC, CTC, and AgNO3 banded karyotypes of brown hares (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) from Turkey are described for the first time. All specimens possessed a diploid number of 2n = 48 chromosomes and a fundamental autosomal number of NFa = 88. The chromosome set consisted of 8 metacentric and submetacentric pairs and 15 subtelocentric and acrocentric pairs decreasing in size from large to small. The X chromosome was a large submetacentric while the Y was a small acrocentric. In contrast with the other specimens, the Kilis specimen possessed a duplication in the long arm of one of the subtelocentric chromosomes. The G-banding pattern of the chromosomes was similar to that given for the genus. Variation was found in the C-banded karyotype and the distribution of NORs. Key words: Lepus europaeus, G-banding, C-banding, NORs, Turkey Türkiye’deki yabani tavşan (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) üzerine sitogenetik çalışma (Mammalia: Lagomorpha) Özet: Türkiye’deki yaban tavşanı (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778)’nın standart, GTC, CTG ve AgNO3 bantlı karyotipleri ilk kez bu çalışma ile verilmiştir. Bütün örneklerde diploid kromozom sayısı 2n = 48 ve otozomal kromozomların kol sayısı ise NFa = 88’dir. Kromozom takımında sekiz metasentrik ve submetasentrik çift ile büyükten küçüğe doğru sıralanan 15 subtelosentrik ve akrosentrik çift bulunmaktadır. X kromozomu büyük submetasentrik iken, Y kromozomu küçük bir akrosentriktir. Diğer örneklerden ayrı olarak Kilis örneği, subtelosentrik kromozomunun uzun kolunda bir duplikasyona sahiptir. Kromozomların G-bantları cins için verilenlerle benzerdir. C-bantlı .