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Nikolay Tzankov

(Associate Professor Dr)
7 April 1977 — 22 June 2016

Professional situation


Professional category: Associate Professor

Academic degrees


MSc in Biology — Faculty of Biology, Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’ (2001)
PhD in Zoology — Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’ (2007)


Research interests


Phylogeography, phylogeny, evolution, conservation management, ecology, bioacoustics.

Scientific experience and qualification


2009 — Molecular Biological Techniques, Sylvius Laboratory, Leiden, Kingdom of the Netherlands, duration 4 weeks
2010 — Modern methods for assessing the fauna diversity — ecological approaches (GIS), 1 week

Contributions to congresses


Internationals — 6 presentations (2 oral presentations + 4 posters)
Nationals — 15 presentations (3 oral presentations + 12 posters)

Participation in courses and teaching activity


Teaching activities at the Faculty of Biology, Sofia University, course — Exercises of Zoology of the Vertebrates — 2005—2011, 1655 hours
Teaching activities at the Faculty of Biology, Sofia University, course — Herpetology — 2008—2013, 273 hours

Supervision of Master students and PhD Students


MSc students (9) — supervisor; PhD students (3) — consultant

Participation in other projects


36 contracts with private companies or administrations.

Field experience


Bulgaria (1996—2012); organisation and participation in expeditions outside Bulgaria: Turkey (2010, 2011), Greece (2010), Kenya (2012).

Other merits


Participation in other organisations
2010—2012 — Vice chair of the CITES scientific authority for Bulgaria

Editorial work
Referee — 21 manuscripts edited. Scientific journals: Acta zoological bulgarica, Conparative cytogenetics, Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle ‘Grigore Antipa’, Zoonotes, Ecologia Balcanica, Archives of biological sciences.

Participation in scientific societies


2011—2013 — Chairman of the Bulgarian Herpetological Society

Most recent publications


Vergilov, V., Tzankov, N., Kornilev, Y., Popgeorgiev, G., 2022. Ecology of the small Snake-eyed Skink Ablepharus kitaibelii (Bibron & Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833) in a NW Bulgaria population. — The North-Western Journal of Zoology, 18 (1): 40—46. [PDF]

Vergilov, V., Tzankov, N., 2021. Giant pelobatid fossil larva from the middle Miocene of Bulgaria. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 43 (3): 29—42. [PDF] doi:10.48027/hnb.43.031

Vacheva, E. D., Naumov, B. Y., Tzankov, N. D., 2020. Diversity and Habitat Preferences in Lizard Assemblages (Reptilia: Sauria) from Model Territories in Western Bulgaria. — Acta zoologica bulgarica, 72 [accepted paper].

Nemitz-Kliemchen, M., Andres, C., Hofmann, S., Ramírez, A. M. P., Stoev, P., Tzankov, N., Schaffer, S., Bernhard, D., Henle, K., Schlegel, M., 2020. Spatial and genetic structure of a Lacerta viridis metapopulation in a fragmented landscape in Bulgaria. — Global Ecology and Conservation, 23: e01104. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01104

Naumov, B., Popgeorgiev, G., Kornilev, Y., Plachiyski, D., Stojanov, A., Tzankov, N., 2020. Distribution and Ecology of the Alpine Newt Ichthyosaura alpestris (Laurenti, 1768) (Amphibia: Salamandridae) in Bulgaria. — Acta Zoologica Bulgarica, 72 (1): 83—102.

Popova, S., Vacheva, E., Tzankov, N., 2019. Sexual size dimorphism in the Balkan subspecies of the Sand lizard Lacerta agilis bosnica Schreiber, 1912 (Reptilia: Lacertidae) in Bulgaria. — Scientific Sessions of the Faculty of Biology, 104: 141—153.

Popgeorgiev, G., Naumov, B., Kornilev, Y., Vergilov, V., Slavchev, M., Lukanov, S., Dyugmegdzhiev, A., Stoyanov, A., Dobrev, D., Tzankov, N., 2019. Diversity and Distribution of Amphibians and Reptiles in the Bulgarian Part of the Lower Danube. — p. 283—314.

Vergilov, V., Tzankov, N., Zlatkov, B., 2018. Age structure and growth in Bulgarian populations of Ablepharus kitaibelii (Bibron & Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833) (Squamata: Sauria: Scincidae). — Herpetozoa, 30 (3/4): 179—185. [PDF]

Vergilov, V., Tzankov, N., 2018. Contribution to the individual marking techniques for small lizards: heat branding on Ablepharus kitaibelii (Bibron & Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833). — North-Western Journal of Zoology, 14 (2) 270—273. [PDF]

Kornilev, Y. V., Popgeorgiev, G., Vacheva, E., Tzankov, N., 2018. First records of melanism (including in tail bifurcation) of lacertid lizards (Reptilia: Lacertidae) in Bulgaria. — North Western Journal of Zoology, 14 (1): 142—144.


More complete list of publications — section e-Natura | Staff publications