Abstract
IN the autumn of 1955, Sharman1 examined the chromosomes of five common shrews (Sorex araneus L.) from Buckland in Berkshire and one from the neighbourhood of Lake Vyrnwy in North Wales. He confirmed Bovey's2 report that there are three sex chromosomes in the male, and made the surprising observation that the diploid number of chromosomes varied from 22 to 25 in different individuals. It appeared that some chromosomal elements could be present in either of two forms: as single V- or J-shaped (metacentric) chromosomes, or as pairs of rod-shaped (acrocentric) chromosomes, one rod corresponding to each arm of the V or J. The total number of autosome arms was therefore constant. This type of chromosome polymorphism is fairly well known in invertebrates, instances having been reported in several species of the Acrididae3 and Coleoptera4, in mantids5, and in a mollusc6. A similar system may exist in the lizard, Gerrhonotus scincicauda 7, and in mammals an apparent case involving a single metacentric chromosome pair has recently been discovered in the rodent species Gerbillus pyramidum by Wahrmann and Zahavi8.
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References
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FORD, C., HAMERTON, J. & SHARMAN, G. Chromosome Polymorphism in the Common Shrew. Nature 180, 392–393 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1038/180392a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/180392a0
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