Chromosome races of the common shrew Sorex araneus in the Ural Mts: A link between Siberia and Scandinavia?

Abstract

Cytogenetic analysis of natural populations of the common shrew Sorex araneus Linnaeus, 1758 over a large area in the vicinity of the Ural Mts revealed the presence of four distinct chromosome races (Yuryuzan, Sok, Serov and Novosibirsk). Each of them differed from a neighbouring race by a single whole arm reciprocal translocation. The two races on the western slope of the Urals (Yuryuzan and Sok) were identical in karyotype to races which have already been reported from Finland (Ilomantsi and Kuhmo). These findings indicate that, during the last glaciation, the Urals could have been a refugium for a group of related chromosome races which are currently distributed in this mountain range and in Finland, respectively.