Karyology of Three Species of Indian Caecilians(Amphibia: Gymnophiona).

Abstract

Three species of Caecilians, namely I. beddomei, I. ssp. and I. malabarensis were collected from different places of Karnataka and Kerala. Mitotic and meiotic chromosomes were prepared from liver and testis respectively. The karyotypes of 3 species i.e. I. beddomei (2n=42), I. ssp. (2n=42) and I. malabarensis (2n=36) are prepared and compared. A probable role of chromosomal rearrangements involved in the evolution of karyotypes of these 3 species is surmised in this paper.