title

Vernacular names of mammals of the fauna of Ukraine in a system of competing lists, with attention to game fauna

author(s)

Igor Zagorodniuk (orcid: 0000-0002-0523-133X)

affiliation

National Museum of Natural History, NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine)

bibliography

Theriologia Ukrainica. 2025. Vol. 30: 173–200.

DOI

language

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

abstract

The article examines the specifics of the development of zoonomics in relation to game mammals known in the fauna of Ukraine, as well as the complexity of implementing specific Ukrainian words and the current principles of taxonym unification. The reason for preparing this work was the administrative influence on the application of certain naming systems with the imposition of outdated schemes that are not widely used, but are a tool of administrative pressure on the use of other naming systems, in particular those adopted by the Ukrainian Theriological Society of NAS of Ukraine. The ways of forming the system of Ukrainian zoonyms in relation to taxa of genus and species ranks are briefly described, with comments on the names of families and orders. The main features and differences of the latest fauna reviews from 2005 to 2020 are presented, with references to the main scientific works in which such naming systems are justified. A detailed analysis of the list of mammal species known in the fauna of Ukraine, which is recommended by the Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine as the only valid list for use in the practice of maintaining hunting documents and designating any species in any official documents (list on the website izan.kiev.ua), is provided. The many systematic errors in the representation of the modern taxonomy of mammals in this scheme, defined as the only correct one, as well as gross errors in the citation of scientific names, are shown. The errors reach up to 19% of the taxonomic list at the genus and species levels. Numerous errors, inconveniences and inconsistencies in the use of Ukrainian names of taxa, including genus and species ranks, are analysed in detail. It is shown that a significant proportion of the names copy Russian names, which are given there in a separate mandatory column. The shortcomings of the old schemes are examined in detail, continuing the discussion on the system of Ukrainian names for game species adopted in documents related to the management of hunting grounds, including the Law of Ukraine ‘On game management and hunting’. A list of game mammal species is provided, including current scientific names, names adopted in textbooks recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science for the training of game experts, names recommended by the Ukrainian Theriological Society, and names used in documents related to game management.

keywords

zoonomics, vernacular names, game fauna, mammals, Ukraine

references

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