The distribution of ground squirrels in Podillia and adjacent areas of Kyiv and Odesa regions as of the mid-nineteenth century

The article presents a unique document, which is one of the oldest scientific publications on mammals of the fauna of Ukraine, dated to 1851 and preserved in K. Kessler’s archive. The text is presented in Ukrainian and is accompanied with the editor’s preface on the history of the manuscript, as well as annexes characterising the researcher, an outstanding naturalist exiled by the Russians to Siberia for many years. The article contains valuable information on the former distribution and biology of Spermophilus odessanus (Citellus suslicus act.) throughout the entire area from Odesa to Zhytomyr region in the longitudinal dimension, and from Khmelnytskyi to Kyiv region in the latitudinal dimension.