“Mammals of the Soviet Union” is one of those
classical, old and impossibly large multi-volume encyclopedias of a kind that's
not done anymore. This volume (the first) was originally published in Russian
in Moscow back in 1961 by Vysshaya Shkola Publishers. The English translation, commissioned
by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and the National Science Foundation,
is dated 1988. The book was printed, for whatever reason, in New Delhi by
Amerind (sic) Publishing. The encyclopedia's publishing history is so complex
that I didn't bother jotting it down, but it seems that the work was unfinished
when the main editor died, and that some volumes still haven't been translated
to English. Perhaps they never will be. Still, it's interesting to note that an
old reference work on Soviet mammals from the 1960's is deemed sufficiently
interesting to translate into English decades later, despite the fact that much
of the information must be out of date. Perhaps no other information is
available?
The editor-in-chief, V G Heptner, was a prominent Soviet zoologist and one of the world's leading mammalogists. He participated in scientific expeditions to all parts of the Soviet Union, described 70 new forms (species, subspecies or subgenera) and published 300 scientific works. “Mammals of the Soviet Union” was his magnum opus. Although Heptner was interested in virtually any subject related to mammals, he is best known for his work on systematics (gerbils were his favorite object of study in this context). Ironically, this giant of modern science doesn't have an entry on Wikipedia, despite the fact that Wiki often references “Mammals of the Soviet Union”…
As for Heptner's labor of love, we're talking about a reference work with relatively few pictures which covers (or was supposed to cover) all recognized species of mammals ever found on Soviet territory in historical times, except rhinos and the parabubal antelope (sorry, guys, not enough evidence that those ever reached Mother Russia and her dependencies). This first volume is 1,147 pages despite only covering 25 species! Unsurprisingly, the amount of information included is almost ridiculously detailed. Remember, we're talking about the Soviet Union, the largest country in the world in terms of size and sheer extension.
Thus, it takes 15 pages just to describe the geographical range of the wild boar (Sus scrofa). We are also kindly informed that wild boars in the Balkash vary in color from light brown to pale yellow (sandy) or even white, while boars in the Ussuri region are ocherous, light brown and black. The weight of a Latvian wild boar may reach 200 or even 236 kg, and of Belorussian specimens 256 kg. Watch out for the boars of the Far East, particularly old tuskers, which tip the scales at 300 – 320 kg. Something tells me hunters from Texas might be interested in a trip to the Russian Far East… On Sakhalin, no boars have been found in historical times, but there are boar fossils! If pork aint your thang, you better avoid the Caucausus, the Belovezh Forest and the Far East, where wild hybrids between boars and domestic pigs have been spotted. Meanwhile in Kazakhstan, swine herders purposely breed hybrids between wild boars and large white swine. The result, in true Soviet fashion, is said to be excellent.
Obviously, various inconsistencies are bound to creep into a 1,000+ pages huge cyclopedia translated from a foreign language. Here's a funny example I noticed. On page 1012, the first note says that “onager” is a bookish term which should be discarded, the correct term being “kulan”, but already in the second note on the same page, “onager” is used anyway, and it's also used in the picture caption on the facing page! :D
Well, at least “Mammals of the Soviet Union” is a treasure trove of facts and figures about ungulates, whatever you chose to call them…
Five stars. I suppose.
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