Analysis of the synaptonemal complex of the nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus

The synaptonemal complex (SC) of three specimens of the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) was analyzed. Thirty-two bivalents (2n = 64) were observed, 31 of them being autosomes and one an XY sexual bivalent. Chromosome synapsis processes and nucleolus structure changes were analyzed in zygotene and pachytene cells, allowing a detailed description of the beginning of meiotic prophase in this species. There was complete synapsis of X and Y chromosomes. Some abnormalities in SC were observed in cells during zygotene and at the beginning of pachytene, but not in cells in the middle and late pachytene, suggesting the occurrence of synaptic adjustments in their SC.