Sirenia Essays

Danielle Carney Professor Gregory Jones Zoo 1503c 15 March 2017 The Ecology and Behavior of Manatees Name The manatee is part of the order Sirenia. The name originates from the sirens of Greek mythology. When the sirens first spotted the manatee, they mistook them for mermaids. There are three different species of manatees in this order (Hartman v.). One species is the West Indian manatee, trichechus manatus. The scientific name for Florida manatees is trichechus manatus latirostris. The scientific

Sirenia is a small order consisting of two major families namely Dugongidae and Trichechidea. The family Trichechidea has three species namely : West Indian Manatees (Trichechus Manatees) , African Manatees ( Trichecus senegalensis ) , Amazonian manatees (Trichechus inunguis). There is stand out surviving part of family Dugongidae, dugongs (Dugong dugon). They are large aquatic mammals with tapering to paddle like dorsoventrally flattened bilobed tails .The order Sirenia is based on sirens i.e

Manatee The manatee has some unique physical features that make it what it is. To start off, manatees have thick, wrinkled skin, which is brownish grayish in color, and they often have algae on it. Manatees are thought to see and hear quite well, despite their lack of outer ears and small eyes (“Basic Facts about Florida Manatees”). Something odd about manatees is that their known as sea cows because of its large stature, lazy nature, and its likelihood to get eaten by other animals. Though the

manatee” or North American manatee. Manatees are occasionally called sea cows as they are similar to cows on land. Manatees belong to the family Trichechidae. This manatee is the largest, fully aquatic surviving member of the aquatic mammal “order Sirenia”. The lifespan of the manatee is 50-60 years in the wild. It is known that manatees have good long-term memory and they demonstrate task-learning abilities similar to dolphins. Habitats: The primary habitat of this manatee species is the warm Florida

The West Indian manatee species is a very unique species. Known as the cow of the sea, the manatee is gentle and calm. As newborns they have a darkish gray colored skin with a light fur covering however, over time that fades into a light gray. They have wrinkled, broad heads with whiskers on the snout. Their bodies taper out to feature a large, flat, round paddle-like tail, with large front flippers. “The average adult manatee is 3.5 m long and weighs 1,000 kg. Manatees spend most of their time eating

The dugong otherwise known as a “sea cow” is a majestic marine mammal with a very interesting digestive system. It is similar to a manatee and the two can sometimes be confused but they are not interchangeable. It is classified by Mammalia Sirenia Dugongidae Dugong. The dugong is found in a wide range of continents and countries mostly throughout the Pacific Ocean. It prefers warm seaside waters and can be found in over forty countries. They can be found swimming around in sea grass fields from the

Sirens are said to originate from Greek mythology, but as tales came about, they were spread throughout many cultures. These mythical creatures have many stories pertaining to their origin. One myth talks about how sirens were the daughters (most famously known as Parthenope, Ligea, and Leucosia) of Achelous, the river god who lived in Sirenum Scopuli. In this myth, written by Ovid, a Roman poet, they were Persophone’s playmates who failed to protect her from her abduction. It states that Demeter