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They measure up to 4.0 metres (13 ft 1 in) long, weigh as much as 590 kilograms (1,300 lb), [2] and have paddle-like tails. Manatees are herbivores and eat over 60 different freshwater and saltwater plants. Manatees inhabit the shallow, marshy coastal areas and rivers of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Amazon basin, and West Africa.
African manatees are typically extremely slow, moving between 4.8 km and 8.0 km (3 and 5 mi) per hour, although when scared by predators they can travel at speeds of about 32 km (20 mi) per hour. The African manatee's large forelimbs, or flippers, are used to paddle and to bring food to its mouth.
Manatees are herbivores, have developed vocal communication abilities, and are covered in highly sensitive whiskers (called vibrissae) that are used for feeding and navigation. [10] In breeding season, several males form mating herds around an individual female; on average, one calf is born to a female manatee every two to three years.
Manatees flock to warm-water springs and power plants in the winter when water temperatures drop. Manatees — sometimes called sea cows — average about 1,200 pounds and 10 feet long.
Everyone likes manatees. Except, perhaps, for whoever scraped "TRUMP" into a manatee in 2020. Manatee populations have recovered significantly over the last few decades, after hunting and habitat ...
A recent Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimate put the population of manatees in the Sunshine State between 8,350 and 11,730, a figure that has been on the decline for the ...
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.
They are clumsy on land, and move on land by lunging, bouncing and wiggling while their fore-flippers keep them balanced; [29] when confronted with predators, they retreat to the water as freshwater phocids have no aquatic predators. [48] The pygmy hippopotamus has four weight-bearing limbs, and can walk on land like a fully terrestrial mammal.