HISTORY OF STUDIES AND MODERN DATA ABOUT THE GREAT GERBIL (RHOMBOMYS-OPIMUS LICHT., 1823) RANGE IN MONGOLIA

The history of studies of the great gerbil range was analyzed and posi tion of the range boundaries was made more precise on the basis of the published data, museum collections, various natural maps, and authors ' field observations. A scheme of the range regionalization is present ed, in which three regional complexes of autonomous population groups are distinguished: Djungarian, Central-Gobi, and East-Gobi-Alashan'. F ive autonomous population groups have also been isolated, which are lo cated to the north of the main range: Shargin-Gobi (?), Beger-nur, Oro k-nur, Bulgan, and Bayan-dov. Regions with most favorable conditions f or the great gerbil colonies were also shown.