Manatee Physical Characteristics
Adult West Indian manatees and West African manatees average about 10 feet. (3 metres) in length.
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Manatee
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Manatee
The Manatee are large, gray-brown mammals that live in the water. They have rounded bodies that end in a flat tail that looks like a paddle and helps to move them through the water.
Manatees are aquatic mammals that are called sea cows (named this by Georg Wilhelm Steller, because they taste like beef).
Manatees behave rather like underwater cows. They are relatively harmless for such large animals, and swim individually or in groups of 15-20 in the sea, coastal lagoons and rivers.
Manatee
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
see sirenian.
More on Manatee
Sirenian - (sr´nn) or sea cow, name for a large aquatic mammal of the order Sirenia.
Manatees belong to the order Sirenia which includes the three species of manatee as well as one other species, the dugong.
Manatees are usually seen alone, in pairs, or in small groups of a half dozen or fewer animals. From above the water's surface, the animal's nose and nostrils are often the only thing visible.
Manatees inhabit the shallow, marshy coastal areas of North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean Sea. They spend half of their day sleeping in the water, surfacing for air every 20 minutes.
Manatees can be found in the warm waters of shallow rivers, bays, estuaries and coastal waters. Rarely do individuals venture into waters that are below 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
The manatee is often referred to as the sea cow.
The manatee has no incisors. It only has molars, which are used for grinding vegetation.
Manatees are herbivores and eat marine and freshwater plants.
BEHAVIOR:
Well known for their gentle, slow-moving nature, manatees have also been known to body surf or barrel roll when playing. Normally they rest and feed often.
Manatees (1)
The Sirenia order consists of four species in two families, manatees and dugongs. They are also known as sea cows. Members of this order live their entire lives in the water and live primarily on vegetation.
Manatees or sea cows (order Sirenia) are large aquatic mammals that live in warm coastal waters and, during the winter, inland spring-fed rivers. The forelimbs are flippers; there are no hindlimbs.
Manatee: Trichechus manatus
Appearance:
Adults are typically 9-10 feet long and weigh around 1000 pounds. However, they may grow to over 13 feet and weigh more than 3500 pounds.
Manatees and Dugongs
From Christopher Columbus to Captain John Smith, sea travelers of yore reported mermaid sightings.
Florida Manatee
Trichechus manatus latirostrus
The florida manatee, Florida's state marine mammal, is a large aquatic relative of the elephant.
Florida manatee
Trichechus manatus
A large, aquatic relative of the elephant that grazes underwater vegetation around the coasts of Florida, the Caribbean and South America.
Manatees are large, cylindrically shaped mammals, with forelimbs modified into flippers, no free hindlimbs, and the rear of the body in the form of a flat, rounded, horizontal paddle.
Manatees have a fusiform body shape that is wide throughout the middle region and tapers to a paddle-like tail at the anterior end. The foreflippers are small and manatees have no hind limbs.
Manatees can be found in shallow, slow-moving rivers, estuaries, saltwater bays, canals and coastal areas. Manatees are a migratory species.
Manatees are primarily herbivores. They feed on a wide variety of submerged, emergent, floating, and shoreline vegetation.
Manatees are opportunistic, aquatic herbivores that feed exclusively on aquatic vegetation, although captive animals have eaten lawn grass, dandelions, palmetto, and garden vegetables.
Manatee Cow and Calf, Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
Photograph by Doug Perrine, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. License: Public Domain. (view image details)
WEST INDIAN MANATEE FACTS ...
The Manatee is where the legend of mermaids was started. Spanish sailors in Florida were away from their native spain and had not seen women for months or years at a time.
Female manatees give birth to their young every two to five years, after a year of pregnancy.
West Indian manatee, Trichechus manatus
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Where are they found? Atlantic Ocean, North America, South America ...
The West Indian manatee is usually silent but it does vocalize with squeals, chirps, and screams. The West Indian manatee is an endangered species in the United States.
Manatee and Dolphin Questions (received from West Virginia)
Question1:What Do Manatees Eat?
question2:Could an Alligator eat a Manatee?
question3:How far down can a Dolphin Dive?
question 4: What do dolphins eat?
African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis)
The African manatee is the least known of all the Sirenians; the unique group of manatees and dugongs that are the only herbivorous marine... More 2 Images 0 videos ...
Manatees, sometimes nicknamed 'sea cows,' are gentle marine mammals that typically swim very slowly and eat large amounts of aquatic plants.
Manatees are gentle, slow-swimming, aquatic mammals.
Color the manatees then write about this endangered marine mammal.
The smallest baleen whale. It sings and has a white band on each flipper.
Manatee Springs SP
Dressed for Halloween? Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar on Passiflora incarnata, the native larval host plant
PineLilyFNPS
Central Florida ...
A manatee and her calf
The rodent-like hyrax
The desmostylians are the only extinct order of marine mammals ...
West Indian manatees are big, slow-moving, gentle vegetarians. They live in warm, shallow water in coastal rivers, estuaries, and lagoons. In winter, large groups of manatees sometimes congregate where warm water is being discharged from factories.
Dugongs and Manatees
Sirenians are slow and passive mammals of tropical and sub-tropical waters. Their large thick bodies betray their heritage as relatives of elephants.
Seals . . . Manatees . . . Whales & Dolphins
AQUATIC INSECTS
Aquatic Beetles [Coleoptera] . . . Dragonflies . . . Bugs ...
Some, such as the manatees and dugongs, seem an obvious choice because they too are hairless and lack hind legs.
Others, such as otters, seals, and bears, stretch our imaginations a bit too much.
The truth is even more bizarre.
In the Company of Manatees by Barbara Sleeper and Jeff Foott. Explore the fascinating world of the manatee and learn what you can do to keep this gentle giant from disappearing forever.
But Platylepas bissexlobata (De Blainville), from the west coast of Africa, is sometimes found entirely buried, except its operculum, in the skin of the manatee.
The elephants, the hyrax or klipdassie, the dugong Dugong dugon and the manatee Trichechus spp, shared a common pig-like ancestor, Moeritherium some 60 million years ago.
Like their relatives, the manatees of the Americas, female Dugongs in season attract the attention of a number of males, one or two of which will eventually mate with her.
The main reason we returned specifically to Monkey Mia was to try to get some more looks at Dugong dugon (Dugongs), the eastern hemisphere counterpart to our manatees.
The dugong has a close relative called a manatee, which is found in waters off Florida, U.S.A. The manatee is larger and its tail is shaped like a beaver's.
Manatees are even more endangered than Australian dugongs.
Almost all involve species within a single genus (e.g., any of the 8 species of pangolin in genus Manis) but I did expand the concept to include "any sirenid" as a single pick: these are the 3 species of manatee plus the South Pacific dugong.
SIRENIA: Trichechidae (Manatees and Dugongs)
Common Name Scientific Name Distribution
West Indian Manatee
Trichechus manatus ...
Order Sirenia (dugongs, manatees, and sea cows)
Order Tubulidentata (aardvark)
Euarchontoglires (Euarchontoglirean mammals) ...
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Swim with manatees - harmful or helpful?
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This is true to a certain extent, but misleading since the relationship stems from a remote ancestor common to hyraxes, sea cows (dugongs and manatees) and elephants.
Also among Texas' endangered and threatened mammals (one or both lists) are four bat species, two native rats, a mouse, 12 whales and dolphins, and the West Indian manatee, ...
West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus)
Western Mastiff Bat (Eumops perotis)
Western Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus hesperus)
Western Red Bat (Lasiurus blossevillii)
Western Small-footed Myotis (Myotis ciliolabrum) ...
Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants: Determination of critical habitat for American crocodile, California condor, Indiana bat, and Florida manatee, [Online]. Federal Register. 41(187): 41914-41916. Available: ecos.fws.gov/SpeciesProfile?
 See also: Armadillo, Opossum, Shell, Gopher, Shrew
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