Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date.
For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now.
Overview
Helfman and Burgess take readers on a round-the-world tour of shark habitats, which include oceans as well as lakes and even rivers (as far up the Mississippi as St. Louis). They describe huge, ferocious predators like (Great) White and Tiger sharks and species such as Basking and Whale sharks that feed on microscopic prey yet can grow to lengths of more than 40 feet. The mysterious and powerful Greenland shark, the authors explain, reaches a weight of 2,200 pounds on a diet of seal flesh. Small (less than 2-foot long) Cookiecutter sharks attack other sharks and even take a chunk out of the occasional swimmer.
Despite our natural fascination with sharks, we have become their worst enemy. Many shark species are in serious decline and a number are threatened with extinction as a result of overfishing and persecution. Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide presents a perfect mix of current science, history, anthropology, intriguing facts, and gripping photographs. Whether your fascination with sharks stems from fear or curiosity, your knowledge of these animals will improve immensely when you consult this book.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781421413099 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Johns Hopkins University Press |
| Publication date: | 05/15/2014 |
| Series: | The Animal Answer Guides: Q&A for the Curious Naturalist |
| Pages: | 288 |
| Sales rank: | 1,156,125 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.80(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
1 Introducing Sharks, Skates, Rays, and Chimaeras 1
What is this book about? 1
What are sharks and how are they classified? 3
How many kinds of sharks are there? 10
How did sharks get their name? 11
Where do sharks live? 12
When did sharks evolve? 13
What are the largest and smallest sharks alive today? 14
What is the fastest shark? 17
What is the largest shark that ever lived? 18
Where can I find fossil shark teeth? 19
How can you tell whether a fossil shark lived in a river, a lake, or an ocean? 20
Why are sharks important? 21
Why should people care about sharks? 21
2 Form and Function of Sharks 23
What is the metabolism of a shark? 23
Are sharks cold-blooded or warm-blooded? 24
What kind of teeth do sharks have? 25
How many teeth does a shark have during its lifetime? 29
Do a shark's teeth change during its life? 30
What is the skeleton of a shark made of? 32
Does a shark have senses like ours? 32
How good is a shark's sense of smell? 33
How well can sharks hear? 35
How well can sharks see? 36
Can sharks see color? 37
How do sharks detect electric fields? 38
Do sharks sleep? 41
Do sharks have scales like other fishes? 41
How do sharks breathe under water? 42
Must a shark keep swimming to breathe? 43
How do sharks swim? 43
How do a shark's fins function during swimming? 47
How long can a shark live out of water? 47
Why do hammerhead sharks have such strange heads? 48
What kind of brains do sharks have? 51
How large is a shark's brain? 51
3 Shark Colors 53
Why are so many sharks dark on top and light on the bottom? 53
Which sharks aren't countershaded? 54
Are any sharks colorful? 57
Are any sharks colorless? 61
What causes the different colors of sharks? 62
Is there a reason for the color patterns of sharks? 63
What color are a shark's eyes? 64
Do a shark's colors change as it grows? 65
Do a shark's colors change at different times of the day or in different seasons? 66
Is there much geographic variation in the color of a shark species? 66
4 Shark Behavior 68
Are sharks social? 68
Do sharks form schools? 70
Can sharks tell one another apart? 71
Do sharks fight? 73
Are any sharks territorial? 75
Do sharks socialize with other kinds of animals? 77
Why do sharks swim at the surface with their dorsal fins sticking out? 79
How smart are sharks? 79
Do sharks use tools? 81
Do sharks play? 82
Do sharks talk? 82
What is "tonic immobility"? 83
5 Shark Ecology 84
Do sharks migrate? 84
How do sharks navigate? 90
How many shark species live in rivers and lakes? 91
How far down in the ocean do sharks live? 94
Which geographic regions have the most species of sharks? 95
Which sharks are most or least abundant? 97
When during the day are sharks most active? 99
How do sharks survive the winter? 99
How do sharks survive droughts? 100
Are there sharks in the desert? 100
Do sharks have any enemies other than humans? 101
How do sharks avoid predators? 104
Do sharks get sick? 107
Do sharks have parasites? 108
How can you tell if a shark is sick? 111
Are sharks good for the environment? 111
6 Reproduction and Development 112
How do sharks reproduce? 112
Do sharks lay eggs or do they give birth to live young? 115
How long do female sharks hold young in their body? 118
How long does it take for a baby shark to hatch from an egg case? 119
Where do sharks lay their egg cases or give birth? 120
Do sharks give birth or lay their egg cases at the same times and places every year? 121
How many young does a mother shark produce? 121
How often do sharks reproduce? 124
What is a baby shark called? 125
Are all the baby sharks in a mother full siblings? 125
Do sharks care for their young? 125
How is the sex of a shark determined? 126
Can sharks reproduce asexually? 127
Is there such a thing as a hybrid shark? 128
Do male and female sharks live together? 128
At what size and age do sharks mature? 129
How long do sharks live? 131
How fast do sharks grow? 132
How can you tell the age of a shark? 132
7 Foods and Feeding 135
What do sharks eat? 135
How do sharks find food? 139
How do sharks catch their prey? 142
When do sharks feed most? 150
How often must sharks feed? 151
Do sharks chew their food? 152
How do sharks eat hard-shelled animals? 152
Do sharks store their food? 153
Must a shark turn on its back to feed? 154
Do sharks cooperate with one another to feed? 154
8 Sharks and Humans 157
Do sharks make good pets? 157
What is the best way to take care of a pet shark? 159
Are any medicines made from sharks? 160
Do sharks feel pain? 163
What should I do if I find an injured shark? 164
What should I do if I find a shark that looks diseased? 164
How can I see sharks in the wild? 164
How can I see sharks in captivity? 167
9 Shark Problems (from a human's viewpoint) 170
Are some sharks pests? 170
Can there be too many sharks in an area? 170
Are sharks dangerous to people? 171
Why do sharks attack people? 175
How likely are shark attacks? 177
Can scientists estimate the size and species of a shark from bite marks? 178
How can sharks be repelled? 179
Do sharks have diseases and are they contagious? 180
Is it safe to eat sharks? 182
What should I do if I'm attacked or injured by a shark? 184
10 Human Problems (from a shark's viewpoint) 185
Are any sharks endangered? 185
Will sharks be affected by global warming? 191
Are sharks affected by pollution? 192
How are sharks affected by litter? 192
How do people catch sharks? 192
Why do people hunt sharks? 193
How are shark fisheries managed? 193
What is bycatch and can it be reduced? 195
What is finning? 196
Is there such a thing as shark leather? 197
Is there such a tiling as shark jewelry? 198
What other parts of sharks are used by humans? 199
Are boats dangerous for sharks? 200
What can an ordinary citizen do to help sharks? 200
11 Sharks in Stories, Media, and Literature 202
What roles do sharks play in religion and mythology? 202
What roles do sharks play in Western religions? 205
Did early philosophers and naturalists mention sharks in their writings? 206
What roles do sharks play in various cultures? 206
What roles do sharks play in popular culture? 208
What roles have sharks played in art and literature? 216
12 "Sharkology" 221
Who studies sharks? 221
Can anyone study sharks? 222
Which species are best known? 222
Which species are least known? 223
How do scientists tell sharks apart? 224
How do scientists study the movements of large sharks? 225
Appendix A Sharks, Skates, Rays, and Chimaeras of the World 227
Appendix B Organizations That Promote the Study and Conservation of Sharks 230
Appendix C Websites That Provide Useful and Accurate Information on Sharks 232
Bibliography 235
Index 239
What People are Saying About This
"This book is sheer delight to read. The answers to every shark question imaginable are presented in wonderful depth. It’s a great book for anyone interested in a factual and broadly informative guide to all things "sharky." I highly recommend it."
"This book is sheer delight to read. The answers to every shark question imaginable are presented in wonderful depth. It’s a great book for anyone interested in a factual and broadly informative guide to all things "sharky." I highly recommend it."
"A wonderfully written and informative book that will be sure to excite and stimulate a new generation of shark biologists for years to come."
"A delightful, engaging, easy-to-read book introducing the cartilaginous fishes and covering their diversity, life histories, and special adaptations, with many fabulous illustrations. The chapters on 'sharks and humans' and 'sharkology' are balanced and refreshing. Helfman and Burgess have certainly done justice to this diverse, interesting, and intriguing group of fishes."
Customer Reviews
