Chromosomal rearrangements in rock wallabies, Petrogale (Marsupialia:macropodidae): III. G-banding analysis of Petrogale inornata and P. penicillata

The karyotypes of Petrogale inornata and the two currently recognised races of Petrogale penicillata were examined using G-banding from cultured fibroblasts. Petrogale inornata (2n = 22) was found to retain plesiomorphic chromosomes 3 and 4 but possessed an apomorphic inverted chromosome 5 (5i). This 5i appears identical with the 5i found in two other Queensland taxa, Petrogale assimilis and Petrogale godmani, and can be derived from the ancestral chromosome 5 by an extensive paracentric inversion or a centromeric transposition. Petrogale penicillata penicillata (2n = 22) and Petrogale penicillata herberti (2n = 22) both possess the synapomorphic acrocentric chromosome 3, which appears to differ from the plesiomorphic 3 by a small centromeric transposition. Petrogale p. penicillata was also found to be characterised by an apomorphic acrocentric chromosome 4, while P. p. herberti was characterised by an autapomorphic submetacentric chromosome 4. Both apomorphic chromosomes 4 can be related to the plesiomorphic chromosome 4 by centromeric transpositions. Thus although P. inornata is chromosomally distinct it is more closely related to other north Queensland taxa than it is to either P. p. penicillata or P. p. herberti.Key words: chromosomal rearrangements, G-banding, Marsupialia, Petrogale, Macropodidae.