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Recent Episodes
November 27th, 2021
MMS 115: Evolutionary History and Marine Mammal Mastication
On this week’s episode Dr Ashley Scarlett chats with guest Dr Carlos Peredo about The evolutionary history of marine mammals and the extreme adaptations they developed for eating their prey.
Ashley’s Notes__________
how they became what they are today
Changes in feeding ecology
Studying fossill whales (megafauna)- palaeontology
(Ancestral whales) primitive whales – Basilosaurs BACIL O SOURS
meaning “king lizard
The earliest specimens were found in Alabama in the 1830s,
functional pelvic limb
sharp-toothed creature that lived 40-35 million
Extreme modifications- and adapting to the marine life
How the mammal body change to become a marine mammal represent major evolutionary innovations
let’s generally do how marine mammals adapt to feeding in the water, with our biggest emphasis on whales and pinnipeds
The evolutionary history of aquatic mammals
departed from using ancestral terrestrial feeding mechanisms and adopted novel ways of feeding
Short Bio:
Dr. Carlos Peredo is an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology and a University of Michigan Society of Fellows Postdoctoral Scholar. His research focuses on understanding the macroevolutionary patterns associated with mammals returning to a marine environment. Carlos studies major ecological transitions in Earth history and how they drive the evolutionary origins of key innovations in mammals to facilitate life in the water. Currently Carlos is studying the loss of mastication in two lineages of marine mammals: whales and pinnipeds.
November 20th, 2021
MMS 114: Baleen whale prey consumption and its importance?
This episode is part 2 of the interview with Dr Matthew Savoca. He will continue discussing the results of his new published paper on the estimate of baleen whale prey consumption and how it impacts the ocean ecosystem.
November 13th, 2021
MMS 113: What is in a whale’s stomach?
This episode is one of two episodes with guest Dr. Matthew Savoca. In this episode, Dr. Savoca explains how important his new findings are on the prey of baleen whales and why these results are so important.
November 06th, 2021
MMS 112: Swimming with whales in Australia
In this week’s episode, Stephanie Stack from the Pacific Whale Foundation talks to Dr. Ashley Scarlett about the behavioural impacts of swim-with-whale tourism on cetaceans.
October 30th, 2021
MMS 111: Research Challenges in Asia Webinar
This week’s episode is the recording of the Research Challenges in Asia webinar hosted by the Society for Marine Mammalogy Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee. This series will focus on research in Asia and issues around conducting marine mammal science in low-income countries.