Zoological museums and mammal collections in Kyiv for the last two centuries: history, values, and prospects

Abstract

The history of formation, development, and transformations of mammal collections in Kyiv in the 19th–21st centuries is considered. A description of the history of formation of key natural history museums and the pres-ence in them of scientific collections of mammals are presented. Descriptions are given by periods and institu-tions, including old museums that has existed since the late 20th century. Among the descriptions are historical collections that has existed since the first half of the 20th century (including museums of Kyiv Polytechnic In-stitute, Ukrainian Scientific Society, Institute of History of Material Culture, and Pedagogical Museum) and collections that disappeared during World War II (museums of Kyiv State University and Ukrainian Agricul-tural Academy). The second part of the review is about modern museum collections that exist in such institu-tions as Kyiv National University (KNU), National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), and two museums (anatomical and forest birds and mammals) at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences (NUBiP), as well as collections at the Institute of Geological Sciences (IGS) and the Institute of Zoology (IZAN) of the NAS of Ukraine. Additionally, brief information about famous museologists (taxidermists, researchers, collectors, and heads) as well as information about catalogues and other reviews of mammal collections are given. The details of migration of the collections are analysed, in particular as a result of social and military conflicts, due to the closure, merger, and status change of institutions. Despite the great risks of losing the col-lections, they had been saved repeatedly thanks to the care of museum workers and scientists. The NMNH is the leader by the volume of collections, among which the collections originally deposited in KNU, IZAN, and NUBiP occupy a special place. The prospects of further existence of the collections in their current state and the importance of supplementing the traditional criteria of their value with new ones that will meet the new tasks of faunal, morphological, biogeographical, and phylogenetic research are considered. Materials suitable for 3D morphological and genetic analyses are important among such new challenges.