Leonid Rekovets, an outstanding palaeomammalogist and evolutionist

A review of scientific activity of professor Leonid Rekovets, the famous Ukrainian and Polish palaeozoologist and mammalogist, is provided on the occasion of his 70th anniversary. Biographical information about the scientist (university studies, postgraduate study at the Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, further scientific career) is presented, and his contribution into the development of palaeozoological investigations is analysed, in particular his research into the fauna, systematics, biostratigraphy, and paleogeography of Neogene and Pleistocene small mammals of Europe. The publication record of L. Rekovets consists of 210 publications, including 5 monographs. The current research of L. Rekovets is concerned with the study of mammalian teeth enamel ultrastructure, ancient DNA analysis of subfossil remains of vertebrates, as well as investigation of the role of extinctions in evolution, which is considered by L. Rekovets as an optimal movement of structure through the time