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The dugong (/ ˈ d (j) uː ɡ ɒ ŋ /; Dugong dugon) is a marine mammal.It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees.It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted to extinction in the 18th century.
Unlike those of manatees, the dugong's teeth do not continually grow back via horizontal tooth replacement. [38] The dugong has two tusks which emerge in males during puberty, and sometime later in life for females after reaching the base of the premaxilla. [33] The number of growth layer groups in a tusk indicates the age of a dugong. [39]
Dugong skeleton displayed at Philippine National Museum. Dugongidae's body weight ranges from 217 to 307 kg for juveniles, 334 to 424 kg for subadults, and 435 to 568.5 kg for adults. Oral temperatures for individual dugongs is determined from 24° to 34.2 °C. Heart rate readings are from 40 to 96 bpm and vary between individual dugongs.
A fossil reveals how a now-extinct species of dugong was swimming in the sea about 15 million years ago when it was preyed upon by a crocodile and a tiger shark.
The manatee's tail is paddle-shaped, and is the clearest visible difference between manatees and dugongs; a dugong tail is fluked, similar in shape to that of a whale. The manatee is unusual among mammals in having just six cervical vertebrae, [11] a number that may be due to mutations in the homeotic genes. [12]
Metaxytherium is an extinct genus of dugong that lived from the Oligocene until the end of the Pliocene. Fossil remains have been found in Africa, Europe, North America and South America. Generally marine seagrass specialists, they inhabited the warm and shallow waters of the Paratethys, Mediterranean, Caribbean Sea and Pacific coastline.
Dugongs. Sirenia is an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries, coastal marine waters, swamps, and marine wetlands. All four species are endangered. Family: Dugongidae. Genus: Dugong. Dugong, D. dugon VU [2]
Prior to the banning of the trade in 1965, dugong oil was a popular Australian product. Brisbane chemists bought it in large quantities and it was also used in the production of cosmetics. Dugong bone, when turned into charcoal, was said to be the best charcoal for sugar refining. A ban on hunting dugongs in Moreton Bay was enacted on 20 March ...