Neurotensin is a tridecapeptide that plays several neurotransmitter or neuromodulatory roles both in the central nervous system and in the periphery. These actions are mediated by a high-affinity receptor (Ntsr). Both rat and human cDNAs encoding high-affinity receptors have been recently cloned. The availability of Ntsr probes allowed us to localize the corresponding genes on the mouse and human chromosomes. The present data demonstrate that the Ntsr gene is assigned to the H region of the mouse Chromosome (Chr) 2 and to the long arm of the human Chr 20.