Dolphins & Porpoises: A Worldwide Guide [Hardcover]

Jean-Pierre Sylvestre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1993

This colour field guide to dolphins and porpoises classifies and identifies over 30 species. Each description contains information on taxonomy, common names, physical characteristics, reproduction, population, diet, field identification, communication and distribution.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-A colorful, concise, readable resource that provides an excellent introduction to dolphins and porpoises. The opening section covers these cetaceans in general and includes their history, relationship with humans, and specific body systems. Then, information on each species is given in paragraph form, furnishing name, physical description, diet, behavior, sound emission, and population distribution. The plentiful, clear diagrams explain body shapes, help with identification, and clarify the form and function of the animals' senses. Full-color photographs are plentiful and bring these popular creatures to life. An excellent choice for biology students.
Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Aimed at the general public and suitable as a reference book for high school and college students, this compact volume presents a great deal of information on an animal that has always held intense fascination for humankind. The author, who has written previous books on whales and sea lions, identifies and provides scientific information on 43 species of the cetacean suborder Odontoceti. Individual descriptions give taxonomy, common name (in English, French, German, and Japanese), characteristics, reproductive methods, population, diet, field identification, communication, sound emission, and distribution. A photo, line drawing, and map showing the distribution of each species are provided. Preliminary text accompanied by color photos discusses breathing, sound production, physiology, reproduction, feeding, and strandings but does not speculate on intelligence. A useful addition to all general science collections.
Judith B. Barnett, Univ. of Rhode Island, Kingston
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Sterling Pub Co Inc; 2nd printing edition. edition (December 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080698791X
• ISBN-13: 978-0806987910
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,140,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Superb Introduction, July 23, 2000

By 

Travis Cottreau (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dolphins & Porpoises: A Worldwide Guide (Hardcover)

Jean-Pierre Sylvestre has taken great care in writing this book. Every known species of dolphin and propoise is covered, and he includes a wealth of facts about each species. Take care, this isn't a whale watching book, the only whales covered are the killer whale, false killer whale, pygmy killer whale and long and short finned pilot whales.

I was particularly impressed with some of the rare photographs of river dolphins such as the amazon river dolphin, ganges river dolphin and Chinese river dolphins that I have not seen in other books. Of course, he also has spectacular photos of the more common species. The ones without photographs were the Franciscana, Hourglass dolphin, Fraser's dolphin, Chilean dolphin, Burmeister's propoise, Vaquita and Spectacled porpoise all others included at least one photograph.

Included with the description of each species is a world map of their ranges, a pencil sketch of each species (especially useful if there is no photograph), when they were first identified, diet, population, other common names, reproduction information, a sketch of their skulls and interestingly enough sound emission information (frequency range and where the research was done etc...). This is only part of the information included, he's got all the common information about size and field identification too of course.

What I like about the book is that it can easily be used as a browsing book for people with a casual interest if they want to ID a dolphin they've seen, or somone looking for a little more detail.

There is also and excellent introduction to the book which includes general information about all species, the taxonomy, sound production and hearing, fossil record information and much more.

You can't really go wrong with the book. If you like this book, I also suggest Eyewitness Handbooks "Whales Dolphins and Porpoises" by Mark Carwardine which is just as good and covers all of the dolphins and porpoises plus all the whales. That text is a little less technical without the skulls or sound frequency information and is geared more towards whale watchers.