The amphibian collections of the Zoological Museum of Ivan Franko
National University of Lviv
[Колекції земноводних Зоологічного музею Львівського національного університету імені Івана
Франка]
Ihor Shydlovskyy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1003-2562 Bohdan
Andriyishyn https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7405-4576 Solomia Susulovska
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7585-7584
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Lviv, Ukraine)
Cite as
Shydlovskyy, I., B. Andriyishyn, S. Susulovska. 2024. The amphibian collections of the
Zoological Museum of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. GEO&BIO,
26: 175–182. [Ukrainian, with English summary]
doi: https://doi.org/10.53452/gb2614
pdf: gb2614-shydlovskyy.pdf
Abstract
Zoological collections concentrated in museums play an important role
in the study of amphibians, their distribution and conservation. In Lviv, the zoological
collection was formed at the Lviv University before 1784. Unfortunately, detailed
descriptions of this collection have not been preserved. Currently, the oldest part of the
amphibian collection housed at the Zoological Museum of Ivan Franko National University of
Lviv consists of exhibited specimens, which were collected from different parts of the world
during the second part of the 19th century. Materials stored in the scientific collections
started to be collected somewhat later, firs as duplicates of the main, exhibited specimens
in case of their loss or colour fading, and only in the 1990s as a scientific material. In
total, the amphibian collection comprises almost 600 specimens housed as more than 360
storage units that belong to more than 65 species of the world’s fauna from 20 families
and 2 orders: Caudata (22 species) and Anura (44 species). The amphibian collection is
mostly represented by wet specimens fixed with formalin or alcohol and only few specimens
are preserved as mummies. Most of the exhibits that represent the fauna of Ukraine were
collected in the past 15–20 years in Lviv, Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk,
Khmelnytskyi, Kherson, and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine. The most valuable specimens in the
museum’s amphibian collections are those of 10 species that have high conservation status
according the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2022-2: Atelopus ignescens,
Ranodon sibiricus, Ambystoma mexicanum, Andrias japonicus,
Proteus anguinus, Cynops ensicauda, Euproctus platycephalus,
Calyptocephalella gayi, Adenomus kelaartii, and Pleurodeles waltl.
Geographically, the collection specimens came from the territory of five continents and no
less than 21 countries of the world, although it represents only 0.7% of the world’s
amphibian diversity. Sixty-three specimens of seven species listed in the Red List of
Ukraine (2021) are preserved in the museum collections, including Salamandra
salamandra, Triturus cristatus, Ichthyosaura alpestris, Lissotriton
montandoni, Epidalea calamita, Bombina variegata, and Rana
dalmatina.
Key words: amphibian collections, conservation status,
natural history museums, National University of Lviv.
Correspondence
to
Ihor Shydlovskyy; Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, 4
Hryshevskyi Street, Lviv, 79005 Ukraine; Email: shydlyk@gmail.com
Article info
Submitted: 13.03.2024. Revised: 18.06.2024. Accepted: 30.12.2024
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