Return to the sea : the life and evolutionary times of marine mammals

著者

書誌事項

Return to the sea : the life and evolutionary times of marine mammals

Annalisa Berta ; illustrated by James L. Sumich and Carl Buell

University of California Press, c2012

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注記

Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-190) and index

内容説明・目次

内容説明

"Return to the Sea" portrays the life and evolutionary times of marine mammals - from giant whales and sea cows that originated 55 million years ago to the deep diving elephant seals and clam-eating walruses of modern times. This fascinating account of the origin of various marine mammal lineages, some extinct, others extant but threatened, is for the non-specialist. Set against a backdrop of geologic time, changing climates, and changing geography, evolution is the unifying principle that helps us to understand the present day diversity of marine mammals and their responses to environmental challenges. Annalisa Berta explains current controversies and explores patterns of change taking place today, such as shifting food webs and predator-prey relationships, habitat degradation, global warming, and the effects of humans on marine mammal communities.

目次

Preface Acknowledgments 1. Marine Mammals Major Groups of Marine Mammals Discovering, Naming, and Classifying Marine Mammals Reconstructing the Hierarchy of Marine Mammals Adaptations and Exaptations What Is a Species and How Do New Species Form? Where Do They Live and Why Are They Where They Are? 2. Past Diversity in Time and Space,Paleoclimates, and Paleoecology Fossils and Taphonomy The Discovery of the First Fossil Marine Mammal (a Whale) The Importance of Fossils How Do We Know the Age of a Fossil? How Do We Know Where Marine Mammals Were? Marine Mammal Diversity and Communities Through Time What Led Marine Mammals Back to the Sea? 3. Pinniped Diversity, Evolution, and Adaptations The Earliest Pinnipeds: Webbed Feet or Flippers? Crown Pinnipeds Desmatophocids: Extinct Phocid Relatives Evolutionary Trends Structural and Functional Innovations and Adaptations Mating and Social Systems, Reproduction, and Life History 4. Cetartiodactylan Diversity, Evolution, and Adaptations Early Whales Had Legs! Crown Cetacea (Neoceti) Evolutionary Trends Structural and Functional Innovations and Adaptations Mating and Social Systems, Reproduction, and Life History 5. Diversity, Evolution, and Adaptations of Sirenians and Other Marine Mammals Walking Sea Cows! Crown Sirenia Evolutionary Trends Structural and Functional Innovations and Adaptations Mating and Social Systems, Reproduction and Life History Desmostylians Aquatic Sloths Marine Otters Polar Bears 6. Ecology and Conservation What Marine Mammals Eat and What Eats Them Interactions Between Human and Marine Mammals: Lessons Learned Extinction: The Rule, Not the Exception Glossary Further Reading and Online Sources Illustration Credits Index

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