Identification of Marine Mammals of India

Accurate taxonomy is fundamental to the conservation efforts on marine mammals, which are listed in Schedule I of Indian Wild Life Act 1972. It is still unclear as to how many species of Cetaceans exist in the Indian seas. Lack of adequate field keys and reliable inventory has resulted in several cases of misidentification when relied exclusively on conventional morphology-based taxonomy. DNA Sequence analysis has become a powerful tool for conservation–identifying the source of samples thought to be derived from threatened or endangered species. The DNA Based approach would help the conservationist to identify the species even from a small piece of tissue sample, such as skin from the marketed product. Molecular taxonomy strongly complements and in many cases ratifies conventional identification of species. This book provides morphological field keys of the species of marine mammals reported from India along with the supportive and ratifying molecular taxonomic approach for the unambiguous identification of species. It also provides the technique for PCR-Based gender identification. This book is the first of its kind, blending traditional taxonomy with molecular genetics, for species and gender identification and forensic testing for preventing illegal trade in marine mammal products.