A Karyotype Study of Chromosomes of Two Species of Hedgehogs, Hemiechinus auritus and Paraechinus aethiopicus (Insectivora: Mammalia)

Abstract

So far chromosomes of 7 species of hedgehogs have been studied—four belong to the genus Erinaceus, two to the genus Hemiechinus and one to the genus Paraechinus. A close study of the work done reveals that the hedgehogs, in general, present quite a stable karyotype. In all these species, except Erinaceus amurensis, the diploid number was confirmed to be 48 (Geisler and Gropp 1967, Hsu and Benir-schke 1968, Gropp et al. 1969, Natarajan and Gropp 1971, and Gropp and Natarajan 1972). Erinaceus amurensis showed a diploid number of 44 chromosomes (Matthey 1973). In the present investigations, karyotypes of two species are reported. © 1978, Japan Mendel Society, International Society of Cytology. All rights reserved.