Vladimir Georgiev Nikolov

(Assistant)

e-mail:

Born on 3 October 1988 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Education

2019—: PhD student at the National Museum of Natural History — Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. Research topic: “Osteohistological studies on fossil vertebrates from Bulgaria”.
2012—2015: MSc degree in “Geology and Paleontology”, Faculty of Geology and Geography, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridsky”. Diploma thesis: “Osteohistology of the Bulgarian non-avian dinosaurs and first fossil find of titanosaur in Bulgaria”.
2008—2012: BSc degree “Geology”, Faculty of Geology and Geography, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridsky”.

Research interests

Vertebrate paleontology, paleohistology, Mesozoic vertebrates in Bulgaria, palaeobiogeography of the Late Cretaceous vertebrate faunas of the European Archipelago.

Current projects

2023—2025: The Dragon from Vrabcha: First record of a pterosaur from Bulgaria. (Research project funded by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science under the National Research Programme “Young scientists and postdoctoral fellows — 2” approved by DCM 206/07.04.2022.)

2021—2025: From dinosaurs to the earliest human ancestors: Fundamental studies of significant moments in the history of the fauna and the Human origins. (Researcher within Project KP-06 N44/6. The project is funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund, Ministry of Education and Science, Bulgaria.)

2021—2025: Interdisciplinary research for the creation of an interactive database and assessment of the geoconservation potential of fossil deposits of significant scientific and museum value from Bulgaria. (Researcher within Project KP-06 N54/3. The project is funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund, Ministry of Education and Science, Bulgaria.)

2021—2025: The lost world of the Bulgarian dinosaurs: An unexpected window to the Southeastern non-avian dinosaur fauna of Europe during the late Santonian — early Campanian times. (Individual research project/grant funded by the Jurassic Foundation.)

Field work experience

2018—: Field work and prospecting of fossil deposits with vertebrate and invertebrate fauna and flora of Mesozoic and Cenozoic age in different parts of Bulgaria. Annual participation in the paleontological expeditions to the fossil locality with Upper Cretaceous vertebrate fauna near the town of Tran, Western Bulgaria (since 2018), and to the Upper Miocene mammal fauna locality Azmaka near the town of Chirpan, Central Bulgaria (since 2021).

Most recent publications

Nikolov, V., Hristova, L., Markov, G., Bogdanova, R., Spassov, N., 2025. From the dinosaurs to the earliest human ancestors: The vertebrate palaeontology at the National Museum of Natural History-BAS. Part 3. — Geology and Mineral Resources, 32 (4—5): 37—43.

Nikolov, V., Hristova, L., Markov, G., Bogdanova, R., Spassov, N., 2025. From the dinosaurs to the earliest human ancestors: The vertebrate palaeontology at the National Museum of Natural History-BAS. Part 2. — Geology and Mineral Resources, 32 (2—3): 39—44.

Nikolov, V., Hristova, L., Markov, G., Bogdanova, R., Spassov, N., 2025. From the dinosaurs to the earliest human ancestors: The vertebrate palaeontology at the National Museum of Natural History-BAS. Part 1. — Geology and Mineral Resources, 32 (1): 29—34.

Nikolov, V., Andreev, P., Voykov, G., Dochev, D., 2025. The first record of gars (Ginglymodi: Lepisosteidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Bulgaria reveals a wider paleogeographic distribution of lepisosteids within the European Archipelago. — Cretaceous Research, 165: 105985. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105985

Nikolov, V., Simov, N., Vasile, Ş., Csiki-Sava, Z., Dochev, D., Yaneva, M., Bogdanova, R., Hristova, L., 2024. Problematic fossils from the Upper Cretaceous of western Bulgaria might be the first record of Mesozoic insects in the country. — Review of the Bulgarian Geological Society, 85 (3): 73—76. https://doi.org/10.52215/rev.bgs.2024.85.3.73

Nikolov, V., Metodiev, L., Dochev, D., Dimitrov, D., Hristova, L., 2024. New Middle Triassic fossil site with remains of fish and marine reptiles near the village of Tserovo, western Stara Planina Mountain, Bulgaria. — Review of the Bulgarian Geological Society, 85 (3): 69—72. https://doi.org/10.52215/rev.bgs.2024.85.3.69

Nikolov, V., Dochev, D., Brusatte, S. L., 2024. The ontogenetic status of a small hadrosauroid dinosaur from the uppermost Cretaceous of Bulgaria, and implications for the paleobiogeography and assembly of European island faunas. — Cretaceous Research, 157: 105819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105819

Nikolov, V., 2024. The Bulgarian fossil record of Mosasauridae. — In: Jagt, J. W. M., Jagt-Yazykova, E. A., del Prado Rebordinos, A., Teschner, E. M. (eds) 7th Triennial Mosasaur Meeting — A global perspective on Mesozoic marine amniotes. Abstract volume and Programme, Maastricht, September 12—15, 2024, 138—141.

Hristova, L., Dochev, D., Metodiev, L., Nikolov, V., 2023. Cetacean and hipparion fossils from the upper Miocene near General Marinovo Village, NW Bulgaria. — Review of the Bulgarian Geological Society, 84 (3): 177—180. https://doi.org/10.52215/rev.bgs.2023.84.3.177

Nikolov, V., Hristova, L., Spassov, N., 2022. Preliminary data on the metapodial bone histology of hipparionins from the upper Miocene locality Hadjidimovo, Southwestern Bulgaria. — 6th International Symposium on Palaehistology, Programme and Abstracts, 39.

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