title

Introduced rodents and carnivorans of Ukraine in collections of natural history museums

author(s)

Denys Lazariev (orcid: 00000-0002-8663-747X) [1] [2]
Igor Zagorodniuk (orcid: 0000-0002-0523-133X) [1]
Zoltán Barkaszi (orcid: 0000-0003-3155-6362) [1] [3]
Andriy Bokotey (orcid: 0000-0003-4626-9585) [4] [5]
Ihor Shydlovskyy (orcid: 0000-0002-1003-2562) [5]
Oleksandr Ponomarenko (orcid: 0000-0002-2417-4510) [6]

affiliation

[1] National Museum of Natural History, NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine),
[2] Ivan Shmalhausen Institute of Zoology, NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine),
[3] John von Neumann University (Kecskemét, Hungary),
[4] State Natural History Museum, NAS of Ukraine (Lviv, Ukraine),
[5] Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Lviv, Ukraine),
[6] Oles Honchar Dnipro National University (Dnipro, Ukraine)

bibliography

Theriologia Ukrainica. 2025. Vol. 29: xx–xx.

DOI

language

Ukrainian, with English summary, titles of tables, captures to figs

abstract

The study focuses on the analysis of collections of introduced mammal species housed in two academic natural history museums and 10 university zoological museums in Ukraine. For each of the examined museums, a general description is provided, including a brief historical overview, the total number of specimens of both alien species and mammals in general, the state of cataloguing, information about individuals involved in the creation of the collections, and the use of these collections in museum exhibitions. The representation of a species in museum collections and displays is primarily determined by this species’ availability, research activity, institutional affiliation, and the museum’s status (national academic, university, etc.). Comprehensive collections of introduced mammal species, both in terms of the number of specimens and species representation, can be found in the National Museum of Natural History, NAS of Ukraine—which includes the zoological collections of the departments of zoology (1040 specimens) and palaeontology (287 spec.)—as well as in the Zoological Museum of Odesa University (669 spec.) and the State Natural History Museum, NAS of Ukraine (110 spec.). Other museums hold significantly smaller amounts of material (ranging from 1 to 55 spec.). The total number of specimens of introduced mammal species across all collections is 2353 specimens of five species. The largest collection in terms of introduced species is that of the muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus, 1998 spec.). Smaller collections include those of the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides, 250 spec.), the coypu (Myocastor coypus, 51 spec.), and the American mink (Neogale vison, 49 spec.). The smallest collection are those the common raccoon (Procyon lotor, 10 spec.). The study presents a summarised catalogue, organised taxonomically by order and species in alphabetical order. The presented material is the result of an analysis and synthesis of data on introduced mammal species housed in zoological collections. For each museum, basic information on the available specimens is provided. Data for each species is structured by the following parameters: museum name, location, number of specimens, sex and age of the animal, inventory numbers and specimen type, date of collection, and the name of the collector or preparator. Ratings of species and museums by sample size are provided.

keywords

alien species, zoological collections, natural history museums, Ukraine

references

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