The bears of Scotland

The brown bear, Ursus arctos, has one of the widest geographical distributions of any carnivoran in the world and it also has a rich fossil record. However, in Scotland extensive glaciation and acidic soils have resulted in few fossil or archaeological remains of Ursus spp. being discovered. Here, the palaeontological and archaeological records of bears in Scotland are reviewed. The results of recent analytical methods including radiocarbon dating, genetic and stable isotope analyses on many of these specimens are presented and discussed in relation to long-term climatic and ecological changes in Scotland over the last 50 000 years.