Aquatic mammals

Mammals come in a bewildering variety of shapesand sizes and yet all of the 4700 or so species have some characteristics incommon, which justifies the inclusion of diverse types within a single group.Although mammals evolved on land, a number of species have become adapted tospending part or all of their lives in water and it is these mammals that youare going to concentrate on in this course. You will meet some aquatic mammals,find out how we can study them, consider their evolutionary history and readabout human impacts on one iconic group.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 The origins of aquatic mammals
• 1 The origins of aquatic mammals
• 1.1 Introduction to aquatic mammals
• 1.2 The origins of aquatic mammals
• 1.3 The pinnipeds, sirenians and cetaceans
• 1.3.1 The suborder Pinnipedia
• 1.3.2 The order Sirenia
• 1.3.3 The order Cetacea
• 1.4 Moving to the water
• 2 Living in the water
• 2 Living in the water
• 2.1 Land versus water
• 2.2 Breathing air
• 2.3 Moving about
• 2.4 Staying warm …
• 2.5 … and getting larger
• 2.6 Senses and communication …
• 2.7 … and becoming more intelligent
• 3 The ‘diving response’
• 3 The ‘diving response’
• 3.1 Features of the diving response
• 3.2 Natural dives
• 4 The evolution of whales
• 4 The evolution of whales
• 4.1 The rate of evolution
• 4.2 Intermediate forms
• 5 Human impact
• 5 Human impact
• Conclusion
• References
• Acknowledgements