Biology of Marine Mammals

Objectives

At the end of this unit, the student should be able to:
1. List the main taxonomic groups of marine mammals, and discuss the evolutionary pressures which led to the main features of each;
2. Explain the main biological adaptations of marine mammals to the ocean environment;
3. Discuss the ecological roles of marine mammals;
4. Analyze critically the human interventions in the ocean environment given its impact on marine mammals&amp,#34;

Program

The theoretical course consists of lectures and seminars on the following topics:
1. evolution of marine mammals- taxonomy and biogeography of cetaceans, pinnipeds and sirenians;
2. biological adaptations to life in the ocean- termoregulation, respiration, swimming, feeding, reproduction;
3. conservation of marine mammals- status and trends;

Teaching Methodologies

The module is structured around seminars which will approach the content through the analysis of scientific papers, having textbook chapters as basis. The teaching approach will, therefore, be similar to a "flipped classroom", in that the students are expected to dedicate some of their independent work time to read the materials to be analyzed in class. It is planned that some of the seminars will be coordinated by specialists in the given topic. Beyond participation in the seminars, each student will be required to write an argumentative essay on a theme on the conservation of marine mammals. The production of this essay will follow a process mimicking the production of a
scientific paper: an oral presentation, a peer review, and an editorial review before the final submission.

Bibliography

Berta, A. (2020). Return to the sea: the life and evolutionary times of marine mammals. University of California Press.

Artigos científicos adicionais serão sugeridos durante os seminários.