Cytogenetic characteristics of pikas Ochotona hyperborea and O. mantchurica (Lagomorpha, Mammalia) in the Amur River Basin

Kartavtseva I.V., Vakurin A.A., Lissovsky A.A., Frisman L.V.

P. 84-90

Most pikas of the genus Ochotona have clear cytogenetic differentiations; therefore, karyotype characteristics offer good diagnostic features in this group. The northern pika O. hyperborea is one of the most widely distributed pika species in the Russian Far East. Cytogenetic data on pikas from new localities from the Amur River Basin were obtained for elaborating on the species’ identification. Chromosome staining showed that pikas from the Bastak Nature Reserve (Jewish Autonomous Region, Russia) differ from the previously studied O. hyperborea. In addition, chromosome morphology for O. hyperborea from the Bastak Nature Reserve and from the Soktahan Range in the Amur Region (Russia) was found to be slightly different. The variation found in the C-stained chromosomes can be explained by the geographic reasons. The Manchurian pika O. mantchurica from the right bank of the Shilka River (Zabaikalskiy Territory, Russia) had diploid number of chromosomes 2n=39. This is an X0 karyotype variant with a single X chromosome that has been found in Ochotonidae for the first time.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.15.2.02

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