EN
Subspecific relationships of the European beaver Castor fiber have been obscured by failure to follow the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and remain an open issue. Inconsequence in the use of subspecies names caused a nomen- clatural as well as a taxonomic confusion. We discuss these controversial and incorrect nomenclatural decisions, and recognize 9 nominal subspecies of European beaver, bearing 9 available names: C. f. fiber Linnaeus, 1758, C. f. galliae Geoffroy, 1803, C. f. albicus Matschie, 1907, C. f. vistulanus Matschie, 1907, C. f. pohlei Serebrennikov, 1929, C. f. birulai Serebrennikov, 1929, C. f. tuvinicus Lavrov, 1969, C. f. belorussicus Lavrov, 1981, and C. f. orientoeuropaeus Lavrov, 1981.