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KarlDeutscheMarx t1_jbjypeq wrote

Reply to comment by iayork in Is there a fertile creature with an odd number of chromosomes? by TheBloxyBloxGuy

I didn't know a mammal could have so few chromosomes, figured only worms and such would have less than 10, but I'm just a layman so guess I could be missing a few chromosomes as well.

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Welpe t1_jbldmmr wrote

You’re associating amount of chromosomes with overall species complexity or advancement or something, which isn’t exactly how it works. More chromosomes isn’t necessarily “better” and fewer isn’t worse, and some of the species with the largest amounts of chromosomes are butterflies and various plants, with hundreds and even over a thousand chromosomes, while some mammals are…well, the Indian Muntjac. There are also some ~10 and into the low teens.

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Rather_Dashing t1_jcymma4 wrote

Fewer chromosome doesnt mean less genes or genetic material, it just means the chromosome are all joined up together. Species with more chromosomes have smaller chromosomes.

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