Search

Two male and 5 female specimens have been studied with identical results. Two females were collected in Uruguay and Argentina. The others came through the courtesy of Mr. Dennis A. Meritt, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, USA. The X chromosome was identified by autoradiography, and the Y is unmistakable. In excellent preparations it is clearly acrocentric. Barr bodies and drumsticks have been reported in females.

Skin biopsies of two males and one female were studied. The males originally from Brazil, were supplied and identified by Dr. A. Coimbra Filho, Zoological Garden, Rio de Janeiro. The biopsy of the female was sent from an animal captured in Uruguay by Dr. L. Branda, Montevideo. It was labeled “peludo”, a designation usually given Chaetophractus. The latter species is somewhat similar in phenotype but differs markedly in karyotype (ref. 1). Taxonomy of this group is not easy and few cytogenetic studies have been done to date.