"European" race-specific metacentrics in East Siberian common shrews (): a description of two new chromosomal races, Irkutsk and Zima.

Karyotype studies of common shrews in the vicinity of Lake Baikal (Irkutsk Region, Eastern Siberia) resulted in the description of two new chromosomal races of Linnaeus, 1758 (Lypotyphla, Mammalia), additional to 5 races formerly found in Siberia. In the karyotypes of 12 specimens from 3 locations, the polymorphism of metacentric and acrocentric chromosomes of the Robertsonian type was recorded and two distinct groups of karyotypes interpreted as the chromosomal races were revealed. They are geographically distant and described under the racial names Irkutsk (Ir) and Zima (Zi).