Standard karyotype and chromosomal evolution of the fallow deer (Dama dama L.).

G-banding, C-banding and silver staining techniques were used to study the chromosomes of the fallow deer Dama dama (2n = 68, NF = 70). On the basis of G-banded metaphases a diagrammatic representation of banding patterns at the 350 band level is proposed. C-banding reveals constitutive heterochromatin in the centromeric regions of all the acrocentric chromosomes. Faint C-banding is present in the centromere of the Y chromosome, while the single pair of metacentrics are C-band negative. The nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) are terminally located near the satellites of the two largest pairs of autosomes. As revealed by a comparison between the G-banded karyotype of the fallow deer and the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), there is a remarkable homology of most autosomes. The metacentric pair in the fallow deer retain the same band patterns of the two acrocentric pairs in the roe deer, while the X chromosomes of the roe deer differ by a pericentric inversion.