Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Elephant seals, weighing up to 2000 kilograms, are not only the largest seals but among the most impressive of all marine mammals. Brought to the brink of extinction by nineteenth-century hunters, the northern species has achieved a recovery that is unmatched by any other marine vertebrate. Elephant seals are capable of tolerating remarkable physiological extremes of nutrition, temperature, and pressure. They spend more time underwater than most whales and dive deeper and longer than any other marine mammal. Lactating females and the largest breeding males during the mating season can lose up to forty percent of their body weight through prolonged fasting. For these and other reasons, the elephant seal has been the subject of intensive study in the northern and the southern hemispheres. Elephant Seals, the first book-length discussion of the species, gathers together the research findings of scientists working along the North American coast from California to Alaska and in the circumpolar waters of the Antarctic. It documents for the first time the worldwide status of elephant seals, noting both the remarkable resurgence of the northern species and the troubling decline of certain populations in the south, which some attribute to human factors such as fishing and global warming. Among the studies discussed by the authors are those involving cutting-edge research on the seals' diving patterns, biannual migration, and foraging locations, carried out with the use of microcomputer diving instruments attached to free-ranging seals. Others include research on the life-history tactics critical to a population's success - juvenile survivorship, female and male reproductive strategies, and prey consumed. The book concludes with an analysis of the remarkable physiological mechanisms that make possible the elephant seals' long breath-holds during diving and sleep, that set limits on foraging, and that regulate their hormones and fuel metabolism while fasting. An important and timely volume, Elephant Seals offers not only a worldwide status report on these impressive mammals but also the most comprehensive and up-to-date account of their behavioral biology. For the information it contains, for the methodological innovations it reports, and for its relevance to the debate about the human causes of species extinction, this book is essential reading for all marine mammalogists, behavioral ecologists, and managers of marine mammals.

Elephant seals. --- Elephant seals --- Zoology --- Health & Biological Sciences --- Vertebrates --- Macrorhinus --- Mirounga --- Morunga --- Rhinophoca --- Sea elephants --- Phocidae

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

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.

SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / Mammals. --- Marine mammals --- Aquatic mammals --- Marine animals --- Evolution. --- Marine fauna --- Ocean animals --- Sea animals --- Aquatic animals --- Marine organisms --- Mammifères marins. --- bioscience books. --- climate change and animals. --- climate change and the ocean. --- elephant seals. --- evolution. --- evolutionary biologist. --- extinct mammals. --- extinct marine life. --- global warming. --- history of mammals. --- history of the sea. --- humans and marine life. --- mammal evolution. --- mammal zoology. --- marine biology students. --- marine evolution. --- marine food webs. --- marine history. --- marine life history. --- marine mammal science. --- marine species. --- natural history. --- oceanography books. --- polar bears. --- predator and prey. --- walruses. --- whales and dolphins. --- zoology.