Description
Book SynopsisMammalogists, paleontologists, and marine scientists will find Berta's insights absorbing, while developmental and molecular biologists, geneticists, and ecologists exploring integrative research approaches will benefit from her fresh perspective.
Trade ReviewMammalogists, paleontologists, and marine scientists will find Berta’s insights absorbing, while developmental and molecular biologists, geneticists, and ecologists exploring integrative research approaches will benefit from her fresh perspective.
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Birdbooker ReportThe Rise of Marine Mammals is an impressive introduction to its subject and an important contribution to zoological literature.
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TLSOverall, this is a thorough review of the evolution of marine mammals, ideal for students of vertebrate paleontology who wish to study the taxonomy of these groups and for professionals who may use it as an up-to-date reference work. The volume is an excellent addition to paleontology collections.
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ChoiceThis is a beautifully illustrated, comprehensive introduction to the fossil record of some of the most interesting evolutionary transformations within mammals . . .
The Rise of Marine Mammals is a fact-filled, well-illustrated volume that will be much appreciated by anyone who is looking to learn about where, when, and how these fascinating animals arose.
—Mark D. Uhen, George Mason University,
Quarterly Review of BiologyThe Rise of Marine Mammals covers the breadth of marine mammal evolution while highlighting the key details. It discusses what we can learn from the fossils within a context that makes the reader feel as if he or she is part of making these discoveries . . . This visually stunning, yet informative, book should serve to inspire its readers—not only to give them a sense of awe and wonder at the marvelous diversity of marine mammals in eons gone by, but also to push them to preserve and steward the remarkable creatures that live in our seas today.
—Ryan M. Bebej, Calvin College,
Perspectives on Science and Christian FaithTable of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgments
1. Setting the Stage
2. The Oldest Marine Mammals
3. Later- Diverging Whales
4. Aquatic Carnivorans
5. Crown Sirenians and Their Desmostylian Relatives
6. Aquatic Sloths and Recent Occupants of the Sea, Sea Otters and Polar Bears
7. Diversity Changes through Time
Classification of Fossil Marine Mammals
Glossary
References
Index
