Chromosomal Aberrations in a Population of Ground Squirrels

Chromosomes were analyzed from a population of Spermophilus beldingi that included an adult female and three juveniles from the same burrow. All animals had a diploid number of 30. The adult and a juvenile female from the burrow had identical aberrant karyotypes containing an unpaired submetacentric and a minute metacentric chromosome. A familial aberration involving an X chromosome, without phenotypic alteration, is most probable.