5 Things I Didn’t Know About Manatees
“West Indian manatees are large, gray aquatic mammals with bodies that taper to a flat, paddle-shaped tail. They have two forelimbs, called flippers, with three to four nails. Their head and face are wrinkled with whiskers on the snout. The manatee’s closest land relatives are the elephant and the hyrax, a small, gopher-sized mammal. Manatees are believed to have evolved from a wading, plant-eating animal. The West Indian manatee is related to the West African manatee, the Amazonian manatee, the dugong, and to the Steller’s sea cow, which was hunted to extinction in 1768. The average adult manatee is about three meters (9.8 feet) long and weighs between 362-544 kilograms (800-1,200 pounds).”
1. Manatees come to the surface for air every 3-5 minutes.
2. Manatees can live to 60 years of age.
3. Manatees are also referred to as sea cows.
4. They can weigh up to 3500 pounds.
5. The name “manatee” can be traced back to the Haitian word “manati .
Tags: manatees, southern-byways
2 opinions for 5 Things I Didn’t Know About Manatees
linda
Sep 14, 2007 at 2:45 pm
How do they know they can weigh up to 3500 pounds? I mean, really … did they actually weigh one or just use a mathematical formula to calculate body mass, weight etc?
SP
Sep 14, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I’m sure that many of them have required medical help. Unfortunately, their main predators are humans… and motor boats.
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