Want to find out how many chromosomes dogs have? Read on to find out!
What Are Chromosomes?
Chromosomes are thread-like entities found inside the nucleus of plants and animals. Chromosomes are made of protein and a single DNA molecule.
The purpose of a chromosome is to keep DNA tightly wrapped up, because without them DNA molecules would be too big for their cells!
Cells in living things are constantly dividing to create new cells and replace the old ones. It’s important that our DNA remains intact and is distributed properly, which is where Chromosomes come in.
While chromosomes do their best to make sure cells reproduce properly, errors can occur in humans, dogs and any other cellular species.
Sex Chromosomes
Just like in humans, dogs have sex chromosomes characterised by X and Y. Females have XX chromosomes while males have XY chromosomes.
How Many Chromosomes Do Dogs Have?
Dogs have 39 pairs of chromosomes and a total of 78. To compare, humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes (total of 46) and cats have 19 chromosome pairs (total of 38).
Dolphins have 22 pairs of chromosomes (44 in total), earthworms have 18 pairs of chromosomes (36 in total) and elephants have 28 pairs of chromosomes (56 in total).
The number of chromosomes an animal has doesn’t mean it is more or less complex than other animals with more chromosomes.
There are around 400 different breeds of dog, making the pooch one of the most diverse animals – at least in terms of their physical appearance – in the world.
