[A faunistic approach to the classification of an animal population (exemplified by small terrestrial mammals of the Kopet-Dag)].

A floristic method of vegetation classification (after Braun-Blanquet) is applied for classification of animal communities. The latter, by analogy with vegetation, can be dividend into classificatory units differing mutually by their composition. Diagnostic species are used as a basis for such classification. Their names are used in producing syntaxonomic nomenclature of the animal population. Assembly is suggested as a principal classificatory unit within this approach. It is defined as multispecies assemblage of animals from various trophic levels, which form stable population combinations and are similar in their geographic and habitat distributions. The assembly can be further divided into subunits called subassembly and population variant. Five assemblies are identified and described for population of insectivores, rodents and lagomorphs in Kopet-Dag Mts (S. Turkmenistan).