Karyotypes of Two Lygosomine Lizards of the Genus Emoia (Squamata: Scincidae) from Malaysia and Micronesia

Hidetoshi Ota, T. Hikida, M. Hasegawa

Abstract


Mitotic chromosomes of Emoia atrocostata from Sarawak, Malaysia, and E. caeruleocauda from Guam and Belau, Micronesia, are described for the first time for the genus. Both of the species have 2n = 30 chromosomes, forming two distinct size-groups. The larger size-group accommodates four metacentric pairs. Of the smaller size-group, pairs 5, 8, and 10 are metacentric, pair 6 are submetacentric, and pairs 9 and 11 – 15 appear to be telocentric. In E. atrocostata pair 7 is submetacentric, whereas it is subtelocentric in E. caeruleocauda. The results seem to predict low chromosomal variability in the genus Emoia, and support Greer’s (1979) assignment of the genus to the Eugongylus Group.

Keywords


Reptilia; Scincidae; Emoia; Karyotype; systematics

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-1995-2-1-43-45

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