THE KARYOTYPE OF SOREX-SAMNITICUS AND ITS RELATION TO THAT OF S-ARANEUS AND 3 OTHER SPECIES OF SOREX (MAMMALIA, SORICIDAE)

The G-banded karyotype of Sorex samniticus is described and compared w ith that of four other species of Sorex: S. araneus, S. alpinus, S. ca ecutiens and S. minutus. The species showing most karyological similar ity to S. samniticus are S. alpinus (due to shared primitive character s) and S. araneus (due to presence of the Sorex araneus arms f, g, and i, not identified as such in the other species). The arms j and n are observed in all five investigated species; the arms m and o in almost all of the species (some of these arms are observed in Neomys too). T he longest arms of S. araneus are not represented in any other species ; they are probably the result of tandem fusions. The cladistic analys is suggests a sister-taxon relationship between S. samniticus and the S. araneus-arcticus group and another one between S. caecutiens and S. minutus, while S. alpinus seems to be more isolated.