EN
In Central Poland, two similar chromosome races of the common shrewSorex araneus Linnaeus, 1758 were earlier described: Drnholec race (arm combinationsgm, hi, ko, nr) and Stobnica race (gm, hi, ko, np). Great similarity in size and G-banding patterns between thenr andnp metacentrics leave open to doubt the actual existence of both races in Poland. The present study, which is based on good quality karyotypes of common shrews from 18 sites, showed the presence of thenr arm combination. There is therefore strong evidence that thenp arm combination was wrongly described and thus the Stobnica race should not be considered valid.