The Craniological Laboratory was organized in February 1993. Main aims of the Laboratory are to improve the organization of teriological material collection and to coordinate the work of European Russian forest reserves for forming the information biodiversity bank.
The stuff of the Laboratory is enrolled among research assistants of the scientific department. Chief of the Laboratory - is the senior staff scientist Pavel N. Korablev.
Tasks of the Laboratory :
- collection of craniological material;
- creation of mammals skull collections;
- keeping of craniological collections;
- studying of collections;
- scientific-educational work.
Funds of the Laboratory contain the skulls of seventeen mammal species from Tver region (Central Forest reserve), Smolensk region, Vologda region (Darvinskiy reserve), Ryazan region (Okskiy reserve) and Kaluga region.
Craniological material collection schematic map
Number of skulls by species:
Elk (Alces alces)
Feral pig (Sus scrofa)
Brown bear (Ursus arctos)
Wolf (Canis lupus)
Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Raccoon Dog - (Nyctereutes procyonoides)
Lynx (Felis lynx)
Eurasian badger (Meles meles)
Pine Marten (Martes martes)
European mink (Mustela lutreola)
American mink (Mustela vison)
European polecat (Mustela putorius)
Least weasel (Mustela nivalis)
Ermine (Mustela erminea)
Otter (Lutra lutra)
European beaver (Castor fiber)
Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
Muskrat (Ondatra zibethica)
314
200
74
307
336
480
28
30
493
114
514
361
7
3
26
377
74
3
Furthermore, there are 30 full skeletons of nine mammal species, 200 skeletons of extremities and 300 other parts of skeletons. Annually funds of Laboratory increase for approximately 200 skulls.
Scientific work with collections is aimed to develop the status of populations and environment estimating methods. Population studies on the basis of thorough investigation of representational skull samples gave birth to the original scientific approach - the ecological-morphogenetic analysis of populations, providing
synthesis of several scientific discipline methods from the point of view of population biology.
In comparative inter-population studies were used collection materials from nine reserves: Laplandskiy, Darvinskiy, Berezinskiy, Central Forest, Prioksko-Terrasniy, Okskiy, Voronezhskiy, Central Chernozemniy, Pechero-Ilychskiy reserves.
Teriologists from Russia (Ekaterinburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg), Ukraine, Byelorussia and other countries worked with collection funds of Laboratory.
As a result of unified study of populations of different mammal species there were discovered some patterns of population phenofund forming. There was also found the set of population parameter values, characterizing background, precritical and critical status of intraspecific groupings of mammals. The results of these studies allow to realize on-line estimation of populations status of wild animals in background and critical areas (for example, at the territory of functioning nuclear power plants).
The results of work whith collections reflected more than thirty publications.
