CHROMOSOME STUDIES OF CHINESE HEDGEHOG ERINACEUS EUROPAEUS DEALBATUS(INSECTIVORA)

The karyotypes of Erinaceus europaeus dealbatus in Nanjing and Jinan have been studied from the chromosome preparations of culture leucocytes and bone marrow cells. The diploid chromosome number is 48. All autosomes are matched in 23 pairs, and one pair is sex chromosome.The karyotypes of Nanjing and Jinan specimens are different. The former consists of 13 pairs of metacentrics,6 of submetacentrics,3 of subtelocentries, and one telocentric pair;X is a medium sized metacentric, Y a metacentric and approximates to the size of the No.22.The latter consists of 14 pairs of metacentries, 5 of submetacentrics, 3 of subtelocentrics and one telocentric pair which is larger than that in Nanjing specimens;X is the same as that of Nanjing specimens, Y a telocentric. In addition, the C-banded, G-banded and silver-stained karyotypes have been observed The results show that C-bands are located at 6 pairs of chromosomes predominantly in Nanjing specimens, among which 2 pairs are subtelocentrics, 3 pairs are submetacentrics and the other is a small metacentirc; and at 5 pairs of chromosomes constantly in Jinan specimens, among which 2 pairs are subtelocentrics, 2 are submetacentrics and one is telocentric.The G-banded karyotypes of Nanjing and Jinan specimens are similar.The large regions composed of heterochromatin are all weekly stained. Ag-NORs are predominantly located at 2 pairs of subtelocentrics and one of submetacentric in Nanjing specimenSjand appear preferentialy at one pair of metacentric, one pair of subtelocentric and one pair of telocentric in Jinan specimens.Ag-NORs are always associated with constitutive heterochromatin. Generally C-banded, G-banded, and silver-stained karyotypes of Chinese hedgehog show certain differences from those of the Western and Eastern European hedgehogs.