With you, me, and in fact any human being there is a total of 46 chromosomes. These determine everything from your eye color to your personality to hereditary diseases. You inherit 26 genes from each of you parents. In fertilization they unite to create a zygote. However some people are missing some of their genes. This can cause mental illness or other diseases. Here is a list of other animals/plants and their similarities in chromosome numbers:
Organism Number
Cabbage- 18
Cat- 38
Elephant- 56
Chimpanzee- 48
As you can see, the simpler organisms tend to have less chromosomes. Cabbage is a simple plant so
it is has less than elephants. I found it interesting that elephants are the largest land mammals so they have the most chromosomes. Chimpanzees are the most similar so they have only 2 chromosomes different from human kind.
Sites:
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/biology/evolution/genetics/dna.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organisms_by_chromosome_count
Organism Number
Cabbage- 18
Cat- 38
Elephant- 56
Chimpanzee- 48
As you can see, the simpler organisms tend to have less chromosomes. Cabbage is a simple plant so
it is has less than elephants. I found it interesting that elephants are the largest land mammals so they have the most chromosomes. Chimpanzees are the most similar so they have only 2 chromosomes different from human kind.
Sites:
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/biology/evolution/genetics/dna.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organisms_by_chromosome_count
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