Number of chromosomes (most of any known animal)

Value 102 chromosomes
Organism Red vizcacha rat Tympanoctomys barrerae
Reference Gallardo MH, González CA, Cebrián I. Molecular cytogenetics and allotetraploidy in the red vizcacha rat, Tympanoctomys barrerae (Rodentia, Octodontidae). Genomics. 2006 Aug88(2):214-21. p.214 left column bottom paragraphPubMed ID16580173
Primary Source [6] M.H. Gallardo, J.W. Bickham, R.L. Honeycutt, R.A. Ojeda, N. Köhler, Discovery of tetraploidy in a mammal, Nature 401 (1999) 341. [7] M.H. Gallardo, et al., Whole-genome duplications in South American desert rodents (Octodontidae), Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 82 (2004) 443–451.PubMed ID10517628
Method Fluorescence in situ hybridization and microspreading
Comments "The discovery of tetraploidy in the red vizcacha rat, Tympanoctomys barrerae (2C = 16.80 ± 0.50 pg DNA) overturned this tenet [of the absence of polyploidy in mammals, primary source 6] but the origin of its completely biarmed, 102-chromosome karyotype remained obscure, since no combination of diploid chromosome numbers in extant family members could explain the derivation of its complement [primary source 7]."
Entered by Uri M
ID 110010