United States
£ GBP
Softcover reprint of the original 1st edition from 1998.
Research in whale origins is now in an explosive phase, with a cascade of discoveries adding to our understanding of the evolutionary pattern and a suite of new techniques being applied to address new questions. The objective of The Emergence of Whales is to provide a snapshot of this explosion. The Emergence of Whales paints the scene with a broad brush. Taken together the chapters clearly indicate that cetacean origins is a field that is dynamic, multidisciplinary, and that the end of the explosive phase is not in sight.
- Synopsis of the Earliest Cetaceans: Pakicetidae, Ambulocetidae, Remingtonocetidae, and Protocetidae; E.M. Williams
- Middle to Late Eocene Basilosaurines and Dorudontines; M.D. Uhen
- Molecular Evidence for the Phylogenetic Affinities of Cetacea; J. Gatesy
- Are Cetaceans Highly Derived Artiodactyls? M.C. Miliknovitch, et al.
- Phylogenetic and Morphometric Reassessment of the Dental Evidence for a Mesonychian and Cetacean Clade; M.A. O'Leary
- Relationships of Cetacea to Terrestrial Ungulates and the Evolution of Cranial Vasculature in Cete; J.H. Geisler, Z. Luo
- Middle Eocene Cetaceans from the Harudi and Subtahu Formatons of India; S. Bajpai, J.G.M. Thewissen
- Postcranial Osteology of the North American Middle Eocene Protocetid georgiacetus; R.C. Hulbert, Jr.
- Homology and Transformation of Cetacean Ectotympanic Structures; Z. Luo
- Biomechanical Perspective on the Origin of Cetacean Flukes; F.E. Fish
- Implications of Vertebral Morphology for Locomoter Evolution in Early Cetacea; E.A. Buchholtz
- Structural Adaptations of Early Archaeocete Long Bones; S.I. Madar
- Evolution of Thermoregulatory Function in Cetacean Reproductive Systems; D.A. Pabst, et al.
- 3 Additional Chapters
- Index
"[...] it offers important anatomical vignettes such as those relating to hearing and swimming. All told, the contributors have created an extremely data-rich volume from which scholars will glean knowledge for years to come."
- Science, 283 (1999)
"Up to now, a `state of the art' summary [...] had not been available. This book admirably fills that void and should be added to the library of any serious mammalogist and paleomammalogist."
- Journal of Mammalogy, 80:4 (1999)
"The Emergence of Whales ends with excellent summaries about our knowledge to date of early whale evolution. The book is a very ggod source of informatiom on the early whales and is necessary reading for anyome involved in whale paleobiology and evolution."
- American Scientist, 87 (1999)
