University of Chicago Press
Whales, Dolphins & Porpoises: A Natural History and Species Guide
Key Metrics
- Annalisa Berta
- University of Chicago Press
- Hardcover
- 9780226183190
- 9.6 X 11.2 X 1 inches
- 3.5 pounds
- Science > Life Sciences - Zoology - Mammals
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
Opening with an accessible rundown of cetacean biology--including the most recent science on feeding, mating, and communication--Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises then presents species-specific natural history on a range of topics, from anatomy and diet to distribution and conservation status. Each entry also includes original drawings of the species and its key identifiers, such as fin shape and color, tooth shape, and characteristic markings as they would appear both above and below water--a feature unique to this book.
Figures of myth and--as the debate over hunting rages on--figures of conflict since long before the days of Moby-Dick, whales, dolphins, and porpoises are also ecologically important and, in many cases, threatened. Written for general enthusiasts, emergent cetacean fans, and biologists alike, this stunning, urgently needed book will serve as the definitive guide for years to come.
Author Bio
Annalisa Berta is professor of biology at San Diego State University, where she specializes in the evolutionary biology of marine mammals, especially baleen whales. Berta is coauthor of Marine Mammals, Third Edition: Evolutionary Biology and author of Return to the Sea: The Life and Evolutionary Times of Marine Mammals. She lives in San Diego, CA.
Source: University of Chicago Press
San Diego State University biologist Annalisa Berta has been elected by a council of her peers as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a prestigious honor recognizing her many contributions to the study of the evolutionary biology of marine mammals.
Berta received her Ph.D. in paleontology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1979, then did post-doctoral work at the University of Florida. She came to SDSU in 1982 as a lecturer teaching human anatomy. At the time, her research expertise was mostly in terrestrial carnivores, but a research trip to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. changed the course of her career.
There, she was asked to help study a fossil seal and she became intrigued with marine mammals. In the decades since she joined SDSU as a tenure-track faculty member in 1989, Berta has published numerous highly cited studies and a handful of books for both academic and popular audiences. While her earlier marine mammal work focused on pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses), she earned distinction in the field with her later studies of whale anatomy and evolution.
Source: San Diego State University
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