Sex chromosomes of the Asian black pond turtle, Siebenrockiella crassicollis (Testudines: Emydidae)

Abstract

A heteromorphism in a pair of macrochromosomes in male Siebenrockiella crassicollis is interpreted as an XX/XY sex determining system. The heteromorphism involves a difference in centromere position and amount and distribution of heterochromatin. The only other sex chromosome system known in turtles is found in the kinosternid genus Staurotypus and is also an XX/XY system, but it involves a different chromosome pair and different chromosomal rearrangements. These two systems have independently arisen within the suborder Cryptodira and share no common ancestry. The sex chromosome system in Siebenrockiella represents a relatively early stage of differentiation. It differs from the hypothesized steps of differentiation in having a heterochromatically derived X.