Cytogenetic studies on Spermophilus xanthoprymnus (Rodentia: Sciuridae) in Central Anatolia

The karyotype, C-banding and Ag-NORs of Spermophilus xanthoprymnus (Anatolian souslik) from the Konya in Central Anatolia were examined. The diploid number of chromosomes (2n) is 42, the fundamental number (FN ) is 81, the number of autosomal arms (NFa) is 78. C-banding positive regions appeared to be restricted to the pericentromeric regions in all autosome chromosome pairs and the X chromosome. The relative amount of C-positive heterochromatin is 28.9 % of the total length of the set. Nucleolar organizer regions (NORs), identified by the silver-staining technique, were found on the terminal region of the short arm of three pairs of subtelocentric chromosomes.