Sven Nilsson and the postglacial fauna of Scania

The Lund professor Sven Nilsson achieved international fame in the nineteenth century in such diverse subjects as geology, zoology, and archaeology. This man of contrasts is described as brilliant but temperamental and touchy, assertive, with a fondness for sensation but simultaneously highly sensitive to criticism. His research on faunal history was pioneering, and many of the results are still valid today. The postglacial animal world in Scania is reflected in the large, unique collections of the Zoological Museum, which Sven Nilsson himself helped to build up. In this book we present his picture of the origin and development of Scanian fauna, in the light of the latest research findings in archaeology, zoology, and genetics.