Karyosystematic analysis of Japanese talpine moles in the genera Euroscaptor and Mogera (Insectivore, Talpidae)

A detailed analysis was done on the karyotypes of four species of mole in the genera Euroscaptor and Mogera using a G-banding technique. All four species examined had a chromosome number of 2n = 36, as reported previously. Euroscaptor mizura and M. wogura from Aichi Prefecture had almost the same chromosome constitution and G-banding patterns. These common karyotypes were considered to be equivalent to the hypothetical ancestral karyotype of Mogera, since two distinct genera derived from an ancestor share G-banding homologies. According to this hypothesis, the karyotype of M. imaizumii might have been derived from the ancestral karyotype through pericentric inversion in one pair of acrocentrics, chromosome 11. Two geographically isolated populations of M. tokudae had different karyotypes: the Echigo population had the same karyotype as M. imaizumii, whereas the Sado population had a derivative karyotype that was able to be explained by pericentric inversions in three pairs of acrocentrics, remaining chromosome 11 as subtelocentric. Mogera wogura from South Korea differed considerably in terms of chromosome constitution from the Japanese population of M. wogura. However, we deduced that pericentric and paracentric inversions in four pairs of acrocentrics would explain the karyotype differences between the Japanese and Korean populations. Furthermore, from the morphology of chromosome 11, we can conclude that the Korean mole was derived from primitive M. wogura through four inversions, quite separately from the lineage of M. imaizumii and M. tokudae. Thus, inversion rearrangements appear to have played a major role in the chromosomal evolution of Japanese talpine moles.