abstract |
This article examines the history of the creation and development of the museum’s mammalian collections over the last 100 years. The collection contains both palaeontological specimens and specimens relating to modern mammalian fauna. A significant part of the collection was assembled during the first third of the 20th century, though the collection has continued to be supplemented with new specimens. Among the well-known collectors of the past are A. Ksenzhopolsky, G. Prozhyga, F. F. Niroda, M. Burchak, V. Brukhovsky and others. Notable specimens include a mammoth skeleton, the remains of which were discovered in the late 19th century near the village of Zbranky (Ovruch District). Data on the growth dynamics of the collection are presented using the example of V. Brukhovsky’s collection (1909–1968). Among contemporary collections, those of S. Vlasiuk, V. Kandaurov, P. Pecheniuk and V. Tsitsyura are worth noting. A map is presented characterising the museum’s collections within the territory of modern-day Zhytomyr Oblast. The current state of the collection is described, including recent developments regarding its relocation and changes in the museum’s status. The current collection comprises 116 specimens of 50 species from seven orders. The museum’s current status is uncertain and there is a risk of specimen loss; consequently, virtually the entire collection is currently in storage. |
references |
Guziy, A. I. 2004. On the study of vertebrates in the Zhytomyr region. In: Zhytomyr — 1120 (884–2004): Proceedings of the Zhytomyr Scientific and Local History Society of Researchers of Volhynia. Zhytomyr, 425–428. (Series: Great Volhynia; Issue 31). [Ukrainian]
Kolenko, G. 2014. Pages of ancient life in the territory of the modern Zhytomyr Oblast (based on an analysis of the palaeontological collection of the Zhytomyr Museum of Nature). In: Natural History and Local Studies of Zhytomyr-Volyn: History and the Present Day. Zhytomyr, 94–100. [Ukrainian]
Kostrytsia, M. Y. 2008. P. A. Tutkovsky: Ukraine’s foremost expert on inorganic nature: a historical and regional studies essay. Zhytomyr Scientific and Regional Studies Society of Volhynia Researchers. Ed. V. B. Kotvytskyi, Zhytomyr, 1–40. (Series: Scholars of Zhytomyr Region; Vol. 7). [Ukrainian]
Pechenyuk, P. P. 2025. On the activities of the Natural History Department of the Zhytomyr Regional Local History Museum in 2020–2025. In: Museum Work in the Cultural, Educational and Scientific Sphere of Ukraine. Berdychiv, 27–30. (Series: Great Volhynia; Issue 68). [Ukrainian]
Pidoplichka, I. G. 1938. Materials for the Study of Past Faunas of the Ukrainian SSR. Volume 1. Published by the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kyiv, 1–178. [Ukrainian]
Pidoplichko, I. G. 1956. Materials for the Study of Past Faunas of the Ukrainian SSR. Published by the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kyiv, 1–236. [Ukrainian]
Stadnychenko, A. P., A. P. Vyskushenko, O. V. Garbar [et al.]. 2003. Rare and Endangered Animal Species of the Zhytomyr Region: A Study Guide. Volyn, Zhytomyr, 1–176. [Ukrainian]
Tarabukin, O. 2014. Towards the creation of a catalogue of palaeontological finds from the Pleistocene and early Holocene epochs of the Quaternary period in southern Zhytomyr Oblast. In: Natural History and Local Studies of Zhytomyr-Volyn: History and the Present Day. Zhytomyr, 101–116. [Ukrainian]
Veselsky, M. F. 2009. Natural history exhibitions in museums of the Zhytomyr region. In: Natural History Museology: Theory and Practice. Proceedings of the All-Ukrainian Conference. Kamianets-Podilskyi, 55–56. [Ukrainian]
Veselsky, M. 2019. Research and exhibition activities of the Zhytomyr Regional Museum of Local History: experience with the palaeontological exhibition in Slovechno. In: Zagorodniuk, I. (ed.). Natural History Museology. Issue 5. NMNH NAS of Ukraine, Kyiv, 107–112. [Ukrainian]
Veselsky, M. F. 2020. On the history of the formation of the theriological collection of the Zhytomyr Regional Museum of Local History. In: Museum Affairs in the Zhytomyr Region: History and the Present Day. Berdychiv, 33–42. (Series: Great Volhynia; No. 60). [Ukrainian]
Zagorodniuk, I., M. Veselsky. 2023. Yuriy Prozhyga, a collector of zoological collections. Novitates Theriologicae, 16: 216–219. [Ukrainian] https://doi.org/10.53452/nt1644
Zagorodniuk, I. 2025. Zoological collections during revolutions, reforms, and wars: Ukraine’s experience in the 20th and 21st centuries. Geo&Bio, 27: 14–60. [Ukrainian] https://doi.org/10.53452/gb2704 |
