Comparative chromosome banding of two South-American species of rice rats of the genus Oligoryzomys (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae)

Comparative analysis of G- and C-banding patterns in two species of pygmy rice rats, namely Oligoryzomys microtis from Peru (Ucayali and Loreto departments) and O. flavescens from Bolivia (Tarija department) established that the diploid number of the former species is 64 (NFa = 66), whereas, in the latter, it varies between 64 and 66 (NFa = 66–68) due to the presence of 0–2 heterochromatic supernumerary or B chromosomes. The G-banding pattern of the euchromatic part of their karyotypes is similar in spite of differences in morphology of the largest and smallest autosomal pairs caused by a centromeric shift and the presence of heterochromatic arms, respectively. In addition, the total quantity of C-heterochromatin is smaller in the karyotype of O. microtis than in that of O. flavescens, resulting in differences in the number and size of chromosome pairs (including sex chromosomes) bearing C-blocks. It follows from present and previous data that these karyotypic features are stable in each of these species and thus may be used as species-specific markers.