First karyological analysis of Plestiodon capito (Squamata: Scincidae)

Plestiodon capito is a reptile endemic to China, but its karyotype has not been reported. Here, we performed chromosome analyses of mitosis and meiosis in P. capito. Chromosomes were prepared directly using bone marrow and testes. Chromosome characteristics were analyzed by Giemsa staining and Ag-NOR banding. The results showed that the diploid chromosome number of P. capito was 2n=26, and the fundamental number (NF) was 46 in both males and females. The types of chromosomes were present as 10 large metacentric, 2 medium metacentric, 8 small metacentric, and 6 small telocentric chromosomes. Nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) were located in the telomere region on the long arm of chromosome pair 7. There was no observation of strange size chromosomes related to sex. We found that during metaphase I, the homologous chromosomes showed synapsis, which can be defined as 13 bivalents and 13 haploid chromosomes at metaphase II as a diploid species. The karyotype formula is as follows: 2n=26=Lm10+Mm2+Sm8+St6.