| Description |
1 online resource (257 pages) |
| Contents |
Cover; The Walking Whales; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; 1. A Wasted Dig; Fossils and War; A Whale Ear; 2. Fish, Mammal, or Dinosaur?; The King Lizard of Cape Cod; Basilosaurid Whales; Basilosaurids and Evolution; 3. A Whale with Legs; The Black and White Hills; A Walking Whale; 4. Learning to Swim; Meeting the Killer Whale; From Dog-Paddle to Torpedo; Ambulocetid Whales; Ambulocetus and Evolution; 5. When the Mountains Grew; The High Himalayas; Kidnapping in the Hills; Indian Whales; 6. Passage to India; Stranded in Delhi; Whales in the Desert; A 150-Pound Skull |
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7. A Trip to the BeachThe Outer Banks; A Fossilized Coast; 8. The Otter Whale; The Whale with No Hands; Remingtonocetid Whales; Building a Beast out of Bones; 9. The Ocean Is a Desert; Forensic Paleontology; Drinking and Peeing; Fossilized Drinking Behavior; Walking with Ambulocetus; 10. The Skeleton Puzzle; If Looks Could Kill; How Many Bones Make a Skeleton?; Finding Whales' Sisters; 11. The River Whales; Hearing in Whales; Pakicetid Whales; September 11, 2001; 12. Whales Conquer the World; A Molecular SINE; The Black Whale; Protocetid Whales; Protocetids and History |
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13. From Embryos to EvolutionA Dolphin with Legs; The Marine Park at Taiji; Shedding Limbs; Whaling in Taiji; 14. Before Whales; The Widow's Fossils; The Ancestors of Whales; Indohyus; A Trust for Fossils; 15. The Way Forward; The Big Question; Tooth Development; Baleen as Teeth; Notes; Index |
| Summary |
Hans Thewissen, a leading researcher in the field of whale paleontology and anatomy, gives a sweeping first-person account of the discoveries that brought to light the early fossil record of whales. As evidenced in the record, whales evolved from herbivorous forest-dwelling ancestors that resembled tiny deer to carnivorous monsters stalking lakes and rivers and to serpentlike denizens of the coast. Thewissen reports on his discoveries in the wilds of India and Pakistan, weaving a narrative that reveals the day-to-day adventures of fossil collection, enriching it with local flavors from South Asian culture and society |
| Analysis |
alaska |
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archaeology |
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carnivorous |
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discussion books |
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evolution |
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evolutionary theory |
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extinction |
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fossil collection |
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fossil collectors |
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fossil hunters |
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fossil record |
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herbivorous mammals |
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india |
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japan |
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lakes and rivers |
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life sciences |
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millions of years |
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modern whales |
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natural history |
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nonfiction |
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pakistan |
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paleontologists |
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paleontology |
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prehistory |
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scientific researchers |
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scientists |
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sea mammal anatomy |
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south asian culture |
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tiny deer |
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whale anatomy |
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whale evolution |
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wild dolphins |
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zoologists |
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zoology |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
English |
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Print version record |
| Subject |
Whales, Fossil -- Pakistan
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Whales, Fossil -- India
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Whales -- Evolution
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Paleontology -- Pakistan
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Paleontology -- India
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Whales, Fossil.
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NATURE -- Fossils.
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SCIENCE -- Life Sciences -- Zoology -- Mammals.
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Paleontology
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Whales -- Evolution
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Whales, Fossil
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Fossil
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Paläontologie
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Evolution
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Wala Volk
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Paläozoologie
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India
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Pakistan
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780520959415 |
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0520959418 |
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