Manatees

3 Pages 805 Words

Manatee? Sea cow? What are these you ask? If you are wondering what I’m talking about then continue reading.

Its common name is Manatee or Sea Cow, but its specific name is Chordata. As a male it is called a bull, a female is called a cow, as a baby it is a calf, and a group of manatees is called a herd. It is classed into the mammal section, the sirenia order, and the Trichechidae family. There are many types of species of manatees in the world and they are all related to the Dugongidae, Arctic Sea Cows.

A Manatee’s features are very distinct. They are egg-shaped in size from head to toe. They have a rounded, paddle-like tail and two front limbs with three to four toenails. Tiny eyes which are located on the sides of the Manatee's earless head, are positioned above a large whisker-covered, double nostril snout. Its lips are very stretchy and are used with the front limbs to help the Manatee eat. They have gray to brown skin with tiny hairs. The manatee may use the small hairs on their bodies that scarcely cover the skin to detect contact. Sometimes algae may grow on its rough skin and causes coloring. Manatees are occasionally 10 feet to 13 feet long and usually weight from 1,200 pounds to 3,500 pounds. Manatees have up to eight molars in two top and two bottom rows of teeth. They food they eat is very tough on their teeth, that is why when their teeth wear away, the teeth are replace by new teeth that seem to “march” to the front from the back of it’s mouth. There is only one species of Kangaroo that has a similar tooth replacement process.

Manatees are very good at using their senses and in turn it helps them survive. Like mentioned in the paragraph above, manatees do not have ears, the only thing is that the ear openings are very tiny and hard to find. However they have very large internal ear bones that help provide them a good sense of hearing. They communicate to each other by makin...