This page provides an up to the minute summary of data currently available in the database. Parameters reported include minimum and maximum reported genomes sizes (in picograms), mean genomes sizes with standard error (SE), total number of species assayed, and the methods, cell types, and standards used for all available records. Note that the statistics reported here are based on all records in the database -- for maximum reliability, you are encouraged to evaluate the data for your particular group of interest directly. Note also that these C-value summaries do not currently account for instances of polyploidy (though this will be updated in the future).
Because these statistics refer to the database as a whole, they must be cited as follows if used in a publication:
- Gregory, T.R. (2005). Animal Genome Size Database. http://www.genomesize.com.
Please select your group of interest from the list:
- Entire Database (i.e., all animals)
- All Chordates | Amphibians | Birds | Fishes | Mammals | Reptiles
- All Invertebrates | Annelids | Arachnids | Crustaceans | Echinoderms | Flatworms | Insects | Molluscs | Nematodes
- Methods, Cell Types, and Standard Species
(Other invertebrate groups are insufficiently represented for summary stats)
Methods, Cell Types, and Standard Species
Methods (code)
| Biochemical Analysis (BCA) | 165 | 1.96% |
| Bulk Fluorometric Assay (BFA) | 474 | 5.63% |
| Complete Genome Sequencing (CS) | 14 | 0.17% |
| Feulgen Densitometry (FD) | 2644 | 31.42% |
| Feulgen Image Analysis Densitometry (FIA) | 2123 | 25.23% |
| Flow Cytometry (FCM) | 2561 | 30.44% |
| Flow karyotyping (FK) | 9 | 0.11% |
| Fluorescence Fading Analysis (note: not an established method) (FFA) | 4 | 0.05% |
| Gallocyanin Chrom Alum Densitometry (GCD) | 11 | 0.13% |
| Methyl Green Densitometry (MGD) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Not Specified (NS) | 66 | 0.78% |
| Static Cell Fluorometry (SCF) | 329 | 3.91% |
| Ultraviolet Microscopy (UVM) | 13 | 0.15% |
| Unknown (UN) | 0.00% |
Cell Types (code)
| Antennae (AN) | 6 | 0.07% |
| Antennal gland (AG) | 13 | 0.15% |
| Blood cells (BL) | 7 | 0.08% |
| Brain (BR) | 752 | 8.66% |
| Buccal epithelium (BE) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Coelomocytes (C) | 20 | 0.23% |
| Corneal epithelium (CE) | 9 | 0.10% |
| Digestive gland (DG) | 4 | 0.05% |
| Dorsal fin clip (FC) | 16 | 0.18% |
| Egg (E) | 2 | 0.02% |
| Embyro (EM) | 21 | 0.24% |
| Epidermis (EP) | 92 | 1.06% |
| Exopodite (EXP) | 55 | 0.63% |
| Fibroblasts (FB) | 4 | 0.05% |
| Fin clips (FC) | 16 | 0.18% |
| Germarium (GM) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Gills (G) | 205 | 2.36% |
| Haemocytes (HE) | 289 | 3.33% |
| Heart cells (HC) | 15 | 0.17% |
| Individual chromosomes (IC) | 9 | 0.10% |
| Intestine (INT) | 11 | 0.13% |
| Kidney cells (KC) | 168 | 1.93% |
| Legs (L) | 13 | 0.15% |
| Leukocytes (LK) | 357 | 4.11% |
| Liver (LV) | 389 | 4.48% |
| Lung (culture) (LG) | 32 | 0.37% |
| Mantle (MT) | 19 | 0.22% |
| Midgut (MG) | 9 | 0.10% |
| Muscle cells (MC) | 115 | 1.32% |
| NE (Neurons) | 0.00% | |
| Not specified (NS) | 141 | 1.62% |
| Oocytes (OC) | 8 | 0.09% |
| Ovaries (OV) | 42 | 0.48% |
| Pancreas (P) | 2 | 0.02% |
| Pharynx (PH) | 12 | 0.14% |
| Polypide cells in suspension (PPC) | 19 | 0.22% |
| Red blood cells (RBC) | 4125 | 47.51% |
| Retinal cells (RC) | 3 | 0.03% |
| Salivary gland (SG) | 8 | 0.09% |
| Somatic cells (SC) | 23 | 0.26% |
| Sperm (S) | 686 | 7.90% |
| Spleen (SP) | 140 | 1.61% |
| Tentacles (TN) | 29 | 0.33% |
| Testes (TS) | 116 | 1.34% |
| Thymus (TH) | 4 | 0.05% |
| Tissue Culture (TC) | 19 | 0.22% |
| Various (V) | 6 | 0.07% |
| Ventral hypodermal chord (VHC) | 12 | 0.14% |
| Whole body (WB) | 575 | 6.62% |
| Whole body squash (SQ) | 63 | 0.73% |
Standard Species (code, C-value)
| Acheta domesticus (AD, 2.00pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Acipenser ruthenus (AR, 1.90pg) | 9 | 0.08% |
| Allium cepa (AC, 16.50pg) | 9 | 0.08% |
| Ambystoma jeffersonianum (AJ, 28.80pg) | 20 | 0.17% |
| Ambystoma laterale (AL, 29.20pg) | 52 | 0.44% |
| Aneides lugubris (ANL, 45.10pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Anguilla anguilla (AA, 1.60pg) | 14 | 0.12% |
| Apis mellifera (AM, 0.27pg) | 2 | 0.02% |
| Artemisia arborescens (plant standard - not recommended) (AAR, 5.72pg) | 18 | 0.15% |
| Bellis perennis (plant standard - not recommended) (BEP, 1.69pg) | 8 | 0.07% |
| Betta splendens (BS, 0.64pg) | 520 | 4.44% |
| Bolitoglossa pesrubra (BP, 65.20pg) | 41 | 0.35% |
| Bos taurus (BO, 3.70pg) | 188 | 1.60% |
| Bufo bufo (BB, 6.00pg) | 2 | 0.02% |
| Bufo fowleri (BF, 5.10pg) | 32 | 0.27% |
| Bufo ictericus (BI, 2.90pg) | 14 | 0.12% |
| Bufo marinus (BM, 4.00pg) | 16 | 0.14% |
| Bufo paracnemis (BP, 3.30pg) | 41 | 0.35% |
| Bufo terrestris (BT, 5.00pg) | 35 | 0.30% |
| Caenorhabditis elegans (CE, 0.10pg) | 33 | 0.28% |
| Carassius auratus (CA, 1.75pg) | 64 | 0.55% |
| Chinese hamster ovary cell line (CHO, 3.10pg) | 3 | 0.03% |
| Chrysomya rufifacies (CR, 0.44pg) | 2 | 0.02% |
| Ciona intestinalis (CI, 0.20pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Crassostrea gigas (CG, 1.82pg) | 11 | 0.09% |
| Cricetus cricetus (CCR, 3.50pg) | 10 | 0.09% |
| Cyprinus carpio (CP, 1.70pg) | 214 | 1.83% |
| Danio rerio (DR, 1.74pg) | 18 | 0.15% |
| Dermestes maculatus (DMA, 1.13pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Donax trunculus (DT, 3.20pg) | 10 | 0.09% |
| Drosophila hydei (DH, 0.21pg) | 4 | 0.03% |
| Drosophila melanogaster (DM, 0.18pg) | 621 | 5.30% |
| Drosophila mojavensis (DMO, 0.17pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Drosophila virilis (DV, 0.34pg) | 135 | 1.15% |
| Eisenia fetida (EF, 0.70pg) | 14 | 0.12% |
| Felis catus (FC, 2.90pg) | 6 | 0.05% |
| Gallus domesticus (GD, 1.25pg) | 3264 | 27.86% |
| Ginglymostoma cirratum (GC, 3.90pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Haliotis discus hannai (HDH, 1.84pg) | 45 | 0.38% |
| Homarus americanus (HA, 4.75pg) | 5 | 0.04% |
| Homo sapiens (HS, 3.50pg) | 1348 | 11.50% |
| Ictalurus punctatus (IP, 1.00pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Locusta migratoria (LM, 5.50pg) | 58 | 0.50% |
| Lymnaea stagnalis (LS, 1.20pg) | 15 | 0.13% |
| Meloidogyne incognita (MI, 0.05pg) | 12 | 0.10% |
| Microtus agrestis (MA, 3.40pg) | 11 | 0.09% |
| Morone saxatilis (MS, 0.82pg) | 17 | 0.15% |
| Mus musculus (MM, 3.30pg) | 471 | 4.02% |
| Musca domestica (MD, 0.90pg) | 18 | 0.15% |
| Mytilus edulis (ME, 1.60pg) | 16 | 0.14% |
| Mytilus galloprovincialis (MGP, 1.92pg) | 5 | 0.04% |
| Myxine garmani (MG, 4.60pg) | 7 | 0.06% |
| Not specified | 253 | 2.16% |
| Not specified (Various) | 80 | 0.68% |
| Oncorhynchus mykiss (OM, 2.60pg) | 896 | 7.65% |
| Oreochromis niloticus (ON, 1.08pg) | 4 | 0.03% |
| Oryzias latipes (IL, 1.12pg) | 0.00% | |
| Paralichthys olivaceus (PO, 0.71pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Periplaneta americana (PA, 3.41pg) | 51 | 0.44% |
| Petunia hybrida (plant standard - not recommended) (PH, 1.43pg) | 4 | 0.03% |
| Pisum sativum (plant standard - not recommended) (PSV, 4.19pg) | 10 | 0.09% |
| Plethodon cinereus (PC, 23.10pg) | 19 | 0.16% |
| Pleurodeles waltl (PW, 22.60pg) | 60 | 0.51% |
| Podarcus sicula (PS, 2.20pg) | 82 | 0.70% |
| Rana esculenta (RE, 6.00pg) | 135 | 1.15% |
| Rana pipiens (RP, 6.70pg) | 661 | 5.64% |
| Rana temporaria (RT, 4.30pg) | 177 | 1.51% |
| Raphanus sativus (plant standard - not recommended) (RS, 0.56pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Rattus norvegicus (RN, 3.10pg) | 16 | 0.14% |
| Salmo salar (SA, 3.00pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Scaptotrigona xantotricha (SX, 0.43pg) | 59 | 0.50% |
| Schistocerca gregaria (SG, 8.70pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Scyliorhinus canicula (SC, 5.70pg) | 46 | 0.39% |
| Solanum lycopersicum (plant standard - not recommended) (SL, 0.98pg) | 2 | 0.02% |
| Sorex araneus (SO, 3.00pg) | 1 | 0.01% |
| Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (SP, 0.89pg) | 469 | 4.00% |
| Sus scrofa (SS, 3.20pg) | 186 | 1.59% |
| Takifugu rubripes (TR, 0.37pg) | 5 | 0.04% |
| Tenebrio molitor (TM, 0.52pg) | 65 | 0.55% |
| Tetraodon fluviatilis (TF, 0.40pg) | 67 | 0.57% |
| Tetraodon nigroviridis (TN, 0.35pg) | 18 | 0.15% |
| Thymallus thymallus (TH, 2.15pg) | 9 | 0.08% |
| Tinca tinca (TT, 1.00pg) | 4 | 0.03% |
| Tribolium castaneum (TC, 0.21pg) | 133 | 1.14% |
| Triticum aestivum (plant standard - not recommended) (TA, 15.45pg) | 4 | 0.03% |
| Various | 536 | 4.57% |
| Xenopus laevis (XL, 3.15pg) | 196 | 1.67% |