Overview

The Dusky Dolphin: Master Acrobat Off Different Shores covers various topics about the dusky dolphin, including its taxonomy, history and demography, ecology, and behavior. After introducing the dusky dolphin as a member of the genus Lagenorhynchus under the family Delphinidae, the book continues by describing its life history, its demographic patterns, and its role in the food web considering predation, parasitism, and competition. The book also includes chapters that discuss the interaction of the dusky dolphin with its habitats, such as the dusky dolphin’s sound production, its foraging at night and in daylight, its survival strategies in response to predator threats, the mating habits of New Zealand duskies, calf rearing, sexual segregation, and genetic relationships. Other chapters address the interaction of dusky dolphins with humans. This book offers information about dusky dolphins off Southern Africa and discussions about the patterns of sympatry in Lagenorhynchus and Cephalorhynchus. Finally, comparisons between dusky dolphins and great apes as large-brained mammals are also reviewed in this book.

Full Product Details

Author:   Bernd Würsig (Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Marine Biology of Texas A&M University at Galveston.) ,  Melany Wursig
Publisher:   Elsevier Science Publishing Co Inc
Imprint:   Academic Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.940kg
ISBN:  

9780123737236

ISBN 10:   0123737230
Pages:   416
Publication Date:   16 September 2009
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Dusky Dolphins’ Place in the Delphinid Family Tree Chapter 2: Dusky Dolphin Life History and Demography Chapter 3: Dusky Dolphin Trophic Ecology: Their Role in the Food Web Chapter 4: Acoustics of Dusky Dolphins Chapter 5: Dusky Dolphins Foraging at Night Chapter 6: Dusky Dolphins Foraging in Daylight Chapter 7: Predator Threats and Dusky Dolphin Survival Strategies Chapter 8: Mating Habits of New Zealand Dusky Dolphins Chapter 9: Dusky Dolphin Calf Rearing Chapter 10: Dusky Dolphin Sexual Segregation and Genetic Relatedness in New Zealand Chapter 11: Human Interactions with Dusky Dolphins: Harvest, Fisheries, Habitat Alteration, and Tourism Chapter 12: Human Interactions, A Management Perspective with Focus on Dusky Dolphins Chapter 13: Dolphin Swimming and Watching: One Tourism Operator's perspective Dennis Buurman Chapter 14: Neglected but not Forgotten: Southern Africa's Dusky Dolphin Chapter 15: Patterns of Sympatry in Lagenorhynchus and Cephalorhynchus: Dolphins in Different Habitats Chapter 16: A Large-Brained Social Mammal Chapter 17: Social Creatures in a Changing Sea: Concluding Remarks

Reviews

"""... this beautifully illustrated book, with many color photos (e.g., p. 247) and close to a thousand combined references at the end for easy look-up, is the very best to date describing our current state of knowledge on the dusky dolphin-and in doing so shedding light on the life of any other delphinid, too, for that matter. The Dusky Dolphin, simply put, is one of those classics which should not be missing from the shelves of anyone in the marine mammal field.""--Michiel Schotten, Department of Marine Biology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands ""Chapters are well written and the mostly high-quality color figures are useful and relevant. This volume illustrates that the incremental progress made in any individual study can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of a species. This 'big picture' is lacking for many species, but is sorely needed as management issues continue to become more complicated and pressing as we move further into the 21st century.""--Quarterly Review of Biology, September 2012, page 273"

... this beautifully illustrated book, with many color photos (e.g., p. 247) and close to a thousand combined references at the end for easy look-up, is the very best to date describing our current state of knowledge on the dusky dolphin-and in doing so shedding light on the life of any other delphinid, too, for that matter. The Dusky Dolphin, simply put, is one of those classics which should not be missing from the shelves of anyone in the marine mammal field. - Michiel Schotten, Department of Marine Biology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Author Information

Bernd Würsig, his students, and postdocs have studied marine mammals and sea birds on all continents, with present work mainly on dusky dolphins in diverse habitats of New Zealand, and beleaguered Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins of Hong Kong. His specialties are behavior and social strategies, especially as related to human disturbance. He has published and co-published about 180 peer review papers, over 50 popular articles, and 7 books. He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Marine Biology of Texas A&M University at Galveston.

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