Comparative Mammalian Cytogenetics

Ten years ago a symposium on Cytotaxonomy 'was held in London (Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. 169:110, 1958) in which a first attempt was made to bring together various disciplines to discuss advances of mammalian cytogenetics and to put them into proper context with the sciences of evolution and taxonomy. The introductory remarks by \V. B. Turrill to that symposium, essentially an admonishment to be tolerant of the short comings of our respective disciplines, would be a most appropriate begin ning to this conference as ,,'ell. However, the meeting held at Hanover was conceived more along the lines of remarks made by R. B. Seymour Se,,'ell in his presidential address to the same society: "It has been said that scientists in this search for truth are nowadays too much concerned with the accumulation of facts, and make too little use of their imagina tion in their attempts to explain such facts as they have accumulated. " (In "The continental drift theory and the distribution of the Copepoda," ibid. 166:149, 1956. ) \\Tith this as a background, two years ago we held the first of a series of loosely-structured conferences on reproductive failure in the relaxing atmosphere of this small New England college community. The manu scripts of that meeting have been published (Comparative Aspects of Re productive Failure, Springer-Verlag New York Inc. , 1967).

Ten years ago a symposium on Cytotaxonomy 'was held in London (Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. 169:110, 1958) in which a first attempt was made to bring together various disciplines to discuss advances of mammalian cytogenetics and to put them into proper context with the sciences of evolution and taxonomy. The introductory remarks by \V. B. Turrill to that symposium, essentially an admonishment to be tolerant of the short comings of our respective disciplines, would be a most appropriate begin ning to this conference as ,,'ell. However, the meeting held at Hanover was conceived more along the lines of remarks made by R. B. Seymour Se,,'ell in his presidential address to the same society: "It has been said that scientists in this search for truth are nowadays too much concerned with the accumulation of facts, and make too little use of their imagina tion in their attempts to explain such facts as they have accumulated. " (In "The continental drift theory and the distribution of the Copepoda," ibid. 166:149, 1956. ) \\Tith this as a background, two years ago we held the first of a series of loosely-structured conferences on reproductive failure in the relaxing atmosphere of this small New England college community. The manu scripts of that meeting have been published (Comparative Aspects of Re productive Failure, Springer-Verlag New York Inc. , 1967).

Summarizing the karyological and molecular cytogenetic data on mammals This publication both reviews and synthesizes the cytogenetic data pertinent to mammalian genome evolution including the most recent advances in molecular cytogenetics with an emphasis on chromosome painting in mammals. The volume begins with an overview of molecular cytogenetics in mammals offering original perspectives on genome evolution in mammals and in other vertebrates as well as on syntenic and associational evolution. Furthermore it discusses the evolution of genome size in mammals and details the cytogenetic findings in: Monotremata and Marsupialia, Afrotheria, Xenarthra, Chiroptera, Eulipotyphla, Carnivora and Pholidota, Cetartiodactyla, Perissodactyla, Rodentia, Lagamorpha and Sciuromorpha, Strepsirrhine Primates, Dermoptera and Scandentia, New World Primates, Catarrhine Primates. Leading experts in the field summarize the karyological and molecular cytogenetic data of mammals and pay particular attention to the last decades of intense activity in this field. Comparative and phylogenomic implications are thoroughly explored and integrated with sequencing information. The synthesis and new interpretations of mammalian karyotypes found in this volume have wide implications for those interested in the evolution of the vertebrate genome and for researchers involved in molecular cytogenetics, mammalian evolution, zoology, primatology, and comparative genomics.

A stunning visual collection of the banded metaphase chromosomekaryotypes from some 850 species of mammals, the Atlas of MammalianChromosomes represents an unabridged compendium of the state ofthis genomic art form. Bringing together information currentlyscattered throughout the cytogenetics literature for scores ofpublished and unpublished species, this atlas features high-qualitykaryotype images for nearly every mammal studied to date, making itthe most comprehensive assemblage of high-resolution chromosomephotographs available--a critically invaluable resource for today'scomparative genomics era. For every available species, the Atlas of Mammalian Chromosomespresents the best karyotype produced, the common and Latin name ofthe species, the published citation, and the contributing authors.Most karyotypes are G-banded, revealing the chromosomal bar codesof homologous segments among related species. Addressing the mandate of the Human Genome Project to annotate thegenomes of other organisms as well, the Atlas of MammalianChromosomes offers a step forward in our understanding of speciesformation, of genome organization, and of DNA script for naturalselection. It is an invaluable resource for geneticists,mammalogists, and biologists interested in comparative genomics,systematics, and chromosome structure.