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The West Indian manatee is the largest living member of the sirenians (order Sirenia), a group of large aquatic mammals that includes the dugong, other manatees, and the extinct Steller's sea cow. Manatees are herbivores , have developed vocal communication abilities, and are covered in highly sensitive whiskers (called vibrissae ) that are ...
A skeleton of a manatee and calf, the Museum of Osteology, Oklahoma City Skull of a West Indian manatee, the Museum of Osteology, Oklahoma City Manatees weigh 400 to 550 kg (880 to 1,210 lb), and average 2.8 to 3.0 m (9 ft 2 in to 9 ft 10 in) in length, sometimes growing to 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) and 1,775 kg (3,913 lb) and females tend to be ...
Articles related to the Manatees (genus Trichechus), large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals, sometimes known as sea cows.There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species in the order Sirenia: the Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), and the West African manatee (Trichechus ...
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the coming months will round up manatee data and decide whether the West Indian manatee species should be given bolstered ...
The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System, located in Kings Bay, in the town of Crystal River, and consists of 20 islands and several small parcels of land.
Various human activities threaten manatee populations. There is some cultural significance in certain areas of South America and the Caribbean that manatees are used as a food source since pre-Columbian times. In these areas and the Amazon basin manatees are a center point if folklore and local myths since before European expansion.
The extant Sirenia comprise two distinct families: Dugongidae (the dugong and the now extinct Steller's sea cow) and Trichechidae (manatees, namely the Amazonian manatee, West Indian manatee, and West African manatee) with a total of four species. [2] The Protosirenidae (Eocene sirenians) and Prorastomidae (terrestrial sirenians) families are ...
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 140,000-acre (57,000 ha) U.S. National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on the Atlantic coast of Florida's largest barrier island. NASA's Kennedy Space Center and visitor complex are also situated on the island and NASA can restrict access to the refuge based on its operational needs.