carp). Some fish have as many as 400 chromosomes. Polyploidy also occurs commonly in amphibians; for example the biomedically important genus Xenopus contains many different species with as many as 12 sets of chromosomes (dodecaploid). Polyploid lizards are also quite common. Most are sterile and reproduce by parthenogenesis; others, like Liolaemus chiliensis, maintain sexual reproduction. Polyploid mole salamanders (mostly triploids) are all female and reproduce by kleptogenesis, "stealing" spermatophores from diploid males of related species to trigger egg development but not incorporating the males DNA into the offspring. While mammalian liver cells are polyploid, rare instances of polyploid mammals are known, but most often result in prenatal death. An octodontid rodent of Argentinas harsh desert regions, known as the plains viscacha rat (Tympanoctomys barrerae) has been reported as an exception to this rule. However, careful analysis using chromosome paints shows that there are only two copies of each chromosome in T. barrerae, not the four expected if it were truly a tetraploid. This rodent is not a rat, but kin to guinea pigs and chinchillas. Its "new" diploid (2n) number is 102 and so its cells are roughly twice normal size. Its closest living relation is Octomys mimax, the Andean Viscacha-Rat of the same family, whose 2n = 56. It was therefore surmised that an Octomys-like ancestor produced tetraploid (i.e., 2n = 4x = 112) offspring that were, by virtue of their doubled chromosomes, reproductively isolated from their parents.
All eukaryotes probably have experienced a polyploidy event at some point in their evolutionary history. Other similar terms
Karyotype
A karyotype is the characteristic chromosome complement of a eukaryote species. The preparation and study of karyotypes is part of cytology and, more specifically, cytogenetics. Although the replication and transcription of DNA is highly standardized in eukaryotes, the same cannot be said for their karyotypes, which are highly variable between species in chromosome number and in detailed organization despite being constructed out of the same macromolecules. In some cases, there is even significant variation within species. This variation provides the basis for a range of studies in what might be called evolutionary cytology. Homoeologous chromosomes
Homoeologous chromosomes are those brought together following inter-species hybridization and allopolyploidization, and whose relationship was completely homologous in an ancestral species. For example, durum wheat is the result of the inter-species hybridization of two diploid grass species Triticum urartu and Aegilops speltoides. Both diploid ancestors had two sets of 7 chromosomes, which were similar in terms of size and genes contained on them. Durum wheat contains a hybrid genome with two sets of chromosomes derived from Triticum urartu and two sets of chromosomes derived from Aegilops speltoides. Each chromosome pair derived from the Triticum urartu parent is homoeologous to the opposite chromosome pair derived from the Aegilops speltoides parent, though each chromosome pair unto itself is homologous. Examples
Animals
Examples in animals are more common in non-vertebrates such as flatworms, leeches, and brine shrimp. Within vertebrates, examples of stable polyploidy include the salmonids and many cyprinids (i.e.