Alien mammal species in the collection of the Zoological Museum of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University

This paper presents a review of information on the specimens of the theriological part of the stock and exhibition collections of the Zoological Museum of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University in Luhansk as of 2014. Specimens of species and subspecies belonging to the group of alien mammals were taken into account. The review included both introductions, invaders, and animals belonging to the group of regional invaders (expanded their range within the region), reintroductions and alien species that occur naturally but do not form stable natural populations. Information on specimens of such invasive alien species as Lutra lutra, Nyctereutes procyonoides, Neogale vison, Ondatra zibethicus provide useful data for analysing the distribution and abundance of alien species in certain regions of the Siverskyi Donets basin. The majority of these species occurred in the main channel of the Donets and its immediate tributaries, which once again underlines the important role of river basins in the distribution of mammalian amphibians. The collections of a number of other alien species and subspecies are small, represented only by single specimens of rodents (Sciurus vulgaris exalbidus, Myocastor coypus) and ungulates (Cervus nippon, Dama dama, Bison bonasus, Saiga tatarica) originating from other regions of Ukraine or without information on the place of occurrence. The collections of such species as Castor fiber and Rattus norvegicus, which comprise 4 and 5 specimens respectively, contain specimens from Luhansk region, but information on their distribution is incomplete or insufficient for analysis or comparison. All the specimens listed in the text are valuable for the study of geographical distribution, craniological and morphological studies of alien species from the territory of Luhansk region and other regions of Ukraine, in particular from Poltava (Lutra lutra), Crimea (Sciurus vulgaris exalbidus) and Kherson (Dama dama).