Zlatozar Nikolaev Boev

National Museum of Natural History - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences · Vertebrates Department

A total 1653 animal remains of 18 taxa have been established in the medieval (10-12 c. AD.) Monastery of Chargubilya Mostich in Veliki Preslav (Shumen Region, CN Bulgaria). Some wild mammals as red deer, roe deer, wild boar and European edible dormouse were rarely hunted, while livestock breeding (cattle, pig, goat, sheep, horse, donkey and rabbit)...

In 2022-2023, a complete rescue archaeological excavation was carried out at the Late Antique fortified settlement (the late 4 th-6 th c. AD) discovered in 2021 near the modern-day town of Dimovo (Vidin Region, NW Bulgaria). A total of 14,045 fragments of animal remains representing 50 taxa were identified from these two field seasons. Along with a...

Since the 19th century, the flamingo has been a regular visitor to wetlands in Bulgaria. In the last decade, the species has been a year-round resident of Lake Atanasovo near the city of Burgas on the Black Sea coast. In 2023, the birds in the lake began to nest for the first time, but did not lay eggs. On 16 June 2024, three 5-7-day-old flamingos...

Based on their bone remains, four species of vultures have been identified in Bulgaria so far, one of which, Gyps bochenskii, has a preglacial distribution and is extinct. Of the remaining three recent species, Cinere-ous Vulture Aegypius monachus has the most ancient distribution (from about 1.6 Ma ago). In general, vultures in Bulgaria were distr...

A popular-science review of the fossil and subfossil records of Columba palumbus in Bulgari.

In the Quaternary of Bulgaria, 15 species of accipitrid eagles and falcons have been found at a total of 40 localities. They make up 83.3 % of the composition of the modern fauna of the two groups in the country. Three species (two species of eagles and one falcon) are extinct (fossil), meaning that one fifth of their Quaternary fauna is gone today...

A total 747 animal remains of 11 taxa have been established in the medieval (Late Byzantine) settlement (4th-7th c. AD) near Gabrovo City (Gabrovo Region, CN Bulgaria). Some wild mammals as Red deer, Roe deer and Wild boar were rarely hunted, while livestock breeding (cattle, pig, goat, sheep, horse and donkey) was the basic source of meat for the...

A popular-science review of the Quaternary distribution of Felis silvestris in Bulgaria.

The most important moments of the life of the naturalist, zoologist and ornithologist Eberhard Undzhiyan (born on 7 July 1934), full of adversities and vicissitudes, are presented - a longtime curator of the Nature Department in the Regional History Museum in Ruse City (NE Bulgaria). His compiled bibliography is unfortunately somewhat incomplete. S...

The study presents a summary of the late antique depictions of birds from the floor mosaics in Philippopolis (present Plovdiv), Parthicopolis (present Sandanski) and Marcianopolis (pr. Devnya). Among the depicted species there are those that today are distributed in northeastern Africa or Hindustan Peninsula, outside the limits of the former Roman...

An attempt has been made to collect and summarize the entire scientific work of the eminent Bulgarian ornithologist Associate Professor Dr. Simeon Simeonov-a long-time lecturer at the Biological Faculty of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". For the first time, the complete bibliography of his works is presented, containing 180 titles, mainly...

For the first time, the numerous scattered data on birds (wild and domestic) have been collected based on their medieval bone remains discovered on the modern territory of the Republic of Bulgaria. The collected information is about a total of 38 medieval settlements from the time of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires. Among the settlements stu...

A popular-science review of the past distribution and importance of Capreolus capreolus in Bulgaria.

A popular-science review of the Quaternary records of Coturnix coturnix in Bulgaria

A popular-science review of various types of "toothed" birds - fossil and modern.

A popular-science review of the opposite birds (Enanthiornites)

The Late Neolithic pit site Hadzhidimitrovo is located in the Eastern Balkans, 13 km to the northwest of Yambol, ca. 1 km to the northwest of the centre of the eponymous village, within the Sliven depression (fig. 1). The relief consists of plains with adjacent hills that reach 100 - 150 masl. The climate is Transitional Continental, with relativel...

A popular-science review of the past distribution of Streptopelia turtur in Bulgaria after archaeornithological data.

For the first time the problems, activities and achievements of the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences are presented in a period of Bulgaria's recent history, during which significant changes took place in the country and it joined the European Union. The museum's scientific, expeditionary, educational, nature p...

A popular-science review of the fossil and subfossil record of the European badger (Meles meles) in Bulgarian archaeological sites.

A popular-science review of the fossil and subfossil record of Fulica atra from the archaeological monuments in Bulgaria

A popular-science presentation of the examination and description of the Miocene starling Dobrosturnus kardamensis from NE Bulgaria.

Brief biographical data and the main nature conservation and scientific contributions, teaching and educational activity and compete bibliography containing data for a total of 419 author's publications in specialized scientific and popular science editions are presented.

The oldest remains of the White-tailed eagle in Bulgaria came from the Neolithic-Chalcolithic (6000–4000 BC). Five Holocene localities of the species have been established in the country, in which a total of 24 bone finds of at least 10 individuals have been found. It is thought that, as in other countries in Europe, from at least the Iron Age to t...

A popular-science review of the Quaternary distribution of Perdix perdix in Bulgaria.

Data on seasonal distribution of 179 avian species in 1976-1978, represented by their migratory and/or residential populations in the area of the former Rupite Ornithological Station (SW Bulgaria) are presented. The dates of the birds' earliest arrivals and latest departures, as well as peak migration periods, are given. Also included is observatio...

A popular-science review of the Quaternary record of Lagopus lagopus and Lagopus muta in Bulgaria.

For the first time, an attempt has been made to present, chronologically and in a systematized form, the development of ornithological studies at the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia (Bulgaria) from its foundation in the last decades of the 19th century to the present day. This 135-year period (1889-2024) includes the work of 12 curators...

An adult individual of the Monk parakeet has been recorded in the City of Piraeus (SE Greece), a new unknown so far locality of the species.

For the first time, an attempt has been made to present in a systematized form chronologically the development of ornithological studies at the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia (Bulgaria) from its foundation in the last decades of the 19th century to the present day. This 135-year period (1889-2024) includes the work of 12 curators of th...

The studied fossil material of birds and mammals from a new Late Pleistocene site in the Stara Planina (Balkan) mountain range is herein presented. The age of the site was determined on the basis of the taxonomic composition of the mammal fauna. A total of 28 taxa (10 birds, 15 small and 3 large mammals) have been identified from 103 bone/teeth spe...

A popular-science review of the large-sized fossil, subfossil and recent rails of family Rallidae (Gruiformes)

A popular-science review of the chalicotheres (Chalicotheriidae -Perissodactyla) in the fossil record in Bulgaria

With the restoration of its legal independence in 1974, a new stage in the development of the National Museum of Natural History began. From 1974 to 1988, it was led by the noted mineralogist Acad. Prof. Ivan Kostov. Part of the geological, paleontological, botanical and soil collections that were taken out in 1947 have been returned to the museum...

A popular science review of the bone remains of Lepus europaeus in the archaeological monuments in Bulgaria

A popular science review of the cave and rock prehistoric and medieval images of animals in Bulgaria.

An analysis of the past geographical and altitudinal distribution of bone remains of the elk (Alces alces) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Bulgaria is given. The data from seven fossil localities (Early-Late Pleistocene) from four provinces in the country are presented. The fossil record in Bulgaria shows the wide distribution of both deer spec...

On 1st July 2023 an adult in non-breeding plumage was observed in the Ognyanovo Reservoir near Ognyanovo village (Sofia Region). This is the first species’ record in the CW Bulgaria.

A popular science review of past and present distribution of Scolopax rusticola in Bulgaria

All aspects of the museum’s activities in the period around its 100th anniversary under the direction of Assoc. Prof. Krassimir Kumanski (1989 – 1993) are presented: reorganization of the exhibition, enrichment of its scientific funds, scientific, popular science and publishing activities, international relations and some of the most valuable exhib...

Numerous examples of the modern names of settlements, mountains, peaks and rivers in Bulgaria are presented, which continue to bear foreign-language names from past periods of Bulgaria‘s history, as well as those related to the declared criminal communist regime in the country (1944-1989). Reasoned proposals have been made to replace some of these...

In the modern religious calendars of Bulgarians and Muslims, some customs and superstitions related to the performance of rituals in which animals (and plants) participate have been preserved. The slaughter of roosters, lambs, pigs, calves, the torture of dogs, the tearing of fresh branches, wild flowers, etc. are widespread. All of them in our mod...

A popular-science review of the fossil and subfossil records of Anser erythropus in Bulgaria.

A popular-science review of the birds in the Mesozoic.

A popular-science review of 2010 on the fossil and subfossil finds of birds from Neogene and Quaternary avian localities in Bulgaria

A popular-science overview of the past distribution in Bulgaria of the extinct wild European ass Equus hydruntinus (Equus hemionus hydruntinus) based on the archaeozoological studies in the country.

An attempt has been made to collect and summarize the entire scientific work of the ornithologist Associate Professor Dr. Tseno Hristov Petrov-a long-time curator at the Natural History Museum in the city of Plovdiv. For the first time, the complete bibliography of his works is presented, containing 202 titles, mainly of publications in specialized...

An attempt has been made to collect and summarize the entire scientific work of the ornithologist Associate Professor Dr. Tseno Hristov Petrov-a long-time curator at the Natural History Museum in the city of Plovdiv. For the first time, the complete bibliography of his works is presented, containing 202 titles, mainly of publications in specialized...

The Lesser Spotted Eagle ( Aquila [Clanga] pomarina ) is a territorial raptor, distributed from Baltic region to Anatolia and Caucasus. Bulgaria is a part of the southern limit of the species distribution range. Since 2014, intensive field research in Eastern and Central Bulgaria identified an abundant and stable population of the species. For the...

Habitat transformation is identified as a global threat to biodiversity, affecting threatened raptors. In our study area, habitat change dramatically affected permanent grasslands, shrinking their availability. As we expected, the decrease in share of grasslands in eagles’ territories significantly affected occupancy rate, but not productivity: we...

The Lesser Spotted Eagle ( Aquila [Clanga] pomarina ) is a territorial raptor, distributed from Baltic region to Anatolia and Caucasus. Bulgaria is a part of the southern limit of the species distribution range. Since 2014, intensive field research in Eastern and Central Bulgaria identified an abundant and stable population of the species. For the...

A popular-science review of the former distribution and the disappearance of Monachus monachus along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

At least a total of 73 observations of the greater flamingo in Bulgaria have been recorded between 1864 and 2023, 69.2 % of which have been done in autumn-winter. The species has been observed in no less than 17 localities, 9 of which are located along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The largest number of flamingos observed at a single locality (Ata...

The study is an attempt to collect and present all direct and indirect information about the former existence of the leopard in Bulgaria. Data on 2 Pleistocene sites (Bacho Kiro Cave and Triagalnata Cave) of bone remains, as well as 14 archaeological monuments-6 prehistoric (Neolithic and Chalcolithic) and 8 historical (antique and medieval)-repres...

The study presents for the first time summarized data on the presence of the Woolly Mammoth remains in Bulgaria from literature data, published in the last 144 years. The exact dates of the appearance and disappearance of the species in the country remain unknown. All the 31 published localities outlined the species presence between 90,000 and 26,0...

The first summary of the past distribution (8000 to 1000 BP) of the common crane in Bulgaria is presented. It is based on the bone remains collected from 14 prehistoric and later archaeological sites. All bone remains were found in the vast lowlands and plains (mostly up to 200 m a.s.l.), often close to large rivers and lakes, which were also the s...

Short biographic notes and a complete bibliography of the scientific publications of Assoc. Prof. Petar Shurulinkov (1975-2023) are presented.

A popular science review of the finds of Castor fiber in the paleontological and archaeological sites in Bulgaria.

A popular science review of the finds of Rangifer tarandus in the paleontological and archaeological sites in Bulgaria.

A popular science review of the finds of Alces alces in the paleontological and archaeological sites in Bulgaria.

A popular overview of the main types of ornithological collections with an emphasis on the osteological collection of recent birds in the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

A popular overview of some of the largest fossil and recent eagles - finds, distribution and biological features.

The most important moments of the life of the noted ornithologist and environmentalist Nikolay Boev are presented. His most significant and versatile contributions to the popularization of the nature protection idea, natural science knowledge, and scientific contributions to the study and protection of Bulgaria‘s animal world are outlined. One of h...

A total of 29 bones and bone fragments of wild and domestic birds and mammals collected in the Late Antiquity military settlement near Dolni Lukovit village (Pleven Region, CN Bulgaria) have been identified as 9 species of 7 orders. Most numerous are the remains of pigs and chickens. The species composition suggests the existence of open treeless g...

A popular science review of the Quaternary distribution of Tetrastes bonasia in Bulgaria.

During cave bear excavations in the Loutra Almopias Cave, Pella District, in Central Macedonia, Greece, an ecologically highly diverse Late Glacial faunal assemblage, mainly micromammals and birds, was sampled from an elevated small niche labelled LAC Ia. The lagomorphs are represented by steppe pika (Ochotona pusilla), brown (or European) hare (Le...

A popular-science review of the past distribution and disappearance of Tetrao urogallus in Bulgaria.

An analysis of the past geographical, altitudinal and chrono-stratigraphical distribution of the Hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia) remains in Bulgaria is given, based on fossil and subfossil bone remains. Data of 8 Quaternary localities (Calabrian to Meghalayan (former Early Pleistocene to Late Holocene)) from Bulgaria are presented. The records pro...

A popular science review of the Pleistocene and Holocene distribution of Cervus elaphus in Bulgaria.

A popular science presentation on moa (Dinornithiformes) birds

A popular-science review of the latest record of Rheiformes in Antarctica

This study presents for the first time summarized data on 759 species/taxa (628 species at least) of six classes of Quaternary vertebrates of Bulgaria: Chondrichthyes (1); Actinopterygii (34); Amphibia (18); Reptilia (33); Aves (299); and Mammalia (374). The richest fauna has been recorded in the Late Pleistocene (285 species), followed by the Cala...

Habitat alteration is a widespread threat severely affecting large raptors because of their low density and the huge area they inhabit. In this study, we assessed whether human-driven habitat alterations mediated dietary shifts of apex predators, focusing on the Eastern imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca). Following a bottom-up conception (before-after...

The study presents the main changes, problems and achievements on the eve of the acquisition of institutional independence of the National Museum of Natural History at the BAS in the period 1965 – 1971, when it was part of the Zoological Institute at the BAS and was led by Corr.-member Prof. Alexander Vulkanov.

A popular-science review of the distribution and disappearance of Mammuthus primigenius in Bulgaria.

A popular-science review of the past distribution of Lyrurus tetrix in Bulgaria and its disappearance.

A popular presentation of a find of Bos primigenius from the late Medieval Ages (17th century to the 1st half of the 18th century AD) from Sofia, Bulgaria.

A popular-science review of the past distribution of Crus crus in Bulgaria and its disappearance

The presentation presents the main moments of the author's work as a member of the National Museum of Natural History for the first 35 years (1980-2014) of his career and was prepared on the occasion of the solemn session to mark the 125th anniversary of the museum's establishment.

A popular science review of the past distribution of Capra ibex, C. aegagrus and C. caucasica in Bulgaria and their disappearance from the Bulgarian nature.

The development o f the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy o f Sciences in one of the crisis periods in its development, soon after the political changes in Bulgaria in 1989, is presented. The problems, their solution, the achievements and the role and place of this institution in the cultural life of the country and especi...

BOEV Z. 2022. Pleistocene distribution of the Asiatic wild dog ( Cuon Hodgson, 1838) (Carnivora, Bowdich, 1821 – Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758) in Bulgaria – a review. Acta zool. cracov. , 65 (1): 15-20. Abstract. In this article the first summary of data on the past distribution of the dhole in Bulgaria is presented. A total of five Pleistocene localiti...

All aspects of the museum's activities in the period about its 100th anniversary under the direction of Assoc. Prof. Krassimir Kumanski (1989-1993) are presented: reorganization of the exhibition, enrichment of its scientific funds, scientific, popular science and publishing activities, international relations and some of the most valuable exhibits...

A new finding (distal right humerus) is described and referent to the hitherto established Spassov’s buzzard (Buteo spassovi) from the same locality and the same horizon. It is the only known fossil buzzard in SE Europe.

Predator-prey interactions may be linked to different temporal or spatial patterns, including dynamics in prey populations. Therefore, understanding the adaptive capacity and how top predators respond to shifts in prey abundance and availability is crucial for their conservation. In this study, we investigated the diet pattern of the endangered Eas...

Paper presents for the first time summarized data on the past distribution of red deer in Bulgaria, based on 131 proven localities, most of being former human settlements. In the Pleistocene red deer's localities were distributed between 40 and 811 m a.s.l. and the majority of them (70.4 %) were located between 200 and 500 m a.s.l. In general, the...

A popular science review of the past distribution and disappearance of Otis tarda and Tetrax tetrax in Bulgaria.

A popular science presentation of the first late Pleistocene record of Strix nebulosa in Bulgaria.

Two families, 8 genera, 12 species, and 13 subspecies of recent owls are recorded in Bulgaria. Two species (Bubo scandiacus and Strix nebulosa), established in the Pleistocene localities, disappeared from the country's recent avifauna. The southern-most limits of the European breeding ranges of three species (Stix uralensis, Aegolius funereus, and...

The main scientific contributions of the notable Bulgarian ornithologist Nikolay Boev (1922-1985) in the field of ornithology, vertebrate zoology, nature conservation, animalistics and the popularization of scientific knowledge are presented on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth.