PurchaseFifty Years of Flukes and Flippers: This book is a combination history of some aspects of Marine Mammal Science and a narrative of a special voyage by the author into the world of marine mammals. Although the study of marine mammals has a very long history, the modern era of research did not start in any serious way until the 1950’s. At the end of the War, Marineland of Florida came to life and provided a whole new experience for the general public to view and study dolphins (primarily the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin), up close and personal. It was also the start of a new approach and interest in research to understand how these amazing mammals have adapted to the marine environment. This was the start of many opportunities to try and answer some of the questions that have intrigued scientist for centuries. Since the author’s introduction to this new endeavor started in 1956 the book focuses on the development of this fascinating field of science from that period up to the present. The story is told from his perspective as an active participant. Reviews: Whales Alive review (Page 13) |
  |
Noninvasive Study of Mammalian Populations The first book on noninvasive approach to the study of animal populations in nature. The frequencies of the detectable individual variations (structural, behavioral, acoustics, etc.) give possibility to study population structure and dynamics, interrelationships between populations, understand phylogeographic (micro-evolutionary) patways. The historical and analytical review of the studies of color pattern, acoustic, behavior and the structural features (including many qualitative variations of nose’, ears, tooth, eyes, tail, dermatoglyphics and other variations) of the whales, dolphins, seals and many other mammalian groups. Discuss the phenetic’ study (the frequencies of qualitative detectable variations, — phenes, — which reflect the genetic characteristics of population) as the powerful new methodology of noninvasive study of the natural populations. |