Evolutionary genetics and systematics of the garden dormouse, Eliomys Wagner, 1840 (Gliridae, Mammalia): 3. Further karyological data

Abstract

The karyotypes of 12 specimens of dormice of the genus Eliomys, from the Alpine region of Switzerland and France, and from Israel (Negev Desert) were analyzed. In the Jura Mountain region, both in France (Besançon) and Switzerland (Canton of Vaud), the specimens were characterized by a diploid number: 2n = 50. In the dormice from the Canton of Valais, the karyotype was 2n = 54. These data contribute to complete the distributional map of the karyotypes in European populations of Eliomys quercinus. G‐banding analysis of the Israeli dormice, with 2n = 48, revealed for the first subtelocentric pair the same pattern as described in the European and African populations of Eliomjs. Therefore, this G‐pattern differs from that reported for animals collected in another locality of the Negev Desert (Israel).

Key words:

• Cytogenetics
• Karyotypes
• Eliomjs
• Gliridae
• Karyotype evolution

Notes

Present address: Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, UA 327 CNRS, U.S.T.L., PI. E. Bataillon, F‐34060 Montpellier cedex (France)