Flexi Says: The number of chromosomes in a organism's genome does not relate to the complexity of the organism. Some very simple organisms, such as ferns, have far more chromosomes than humans (46). In fact, the number of chromosomes varies widely even among different types of ferns. One species has 184, and another 1260! Other relatively complex animals have far fewer chromosomes. Deer have only 6 chromosomes, for example. The amount of genetic material does not directly relate to complexity because only a very small percent of genetic material in a genome codes for proteins. The percent of non-coding DNA can vary widely among species.
