Manatee - Florida manatee
Introduction: The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus) is a marine mammal which is also known as “West Indian manatee” or North American manatee. Occasionally, manatees are called sea cows due to the similarity to terrestrial cows. 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 are similar to the dolphin in their task-learning abilities.
Habitats: The primary habitat of the Florida manatee species is the warm coastal waters of Florida which provide the animals with wintering refuges in natural warm water springs. Florida manatees are also attracted to the warm water outflow from…show more content… The manatees use their front flippers to steer, or sometimes crawl in shallow water. Their powerful and spatula-shaped tails help propel the manatees through the water. In regard to hearing and vision, despite their small eyes and the lack of outer ears, the animals are believed to hear and see well.
Manatees have four rows of cheek teeth, which are continually replaced throughout the manatee's lifetime with new teeth. Typically, a manatee has no more than six teeth in each jaw of its mouth at any given time. The stomach of Manatee is simple with a large cecum in which the animals can digest tough plant matter. Their intestines are typically long of about 45 meters.
Manatees are unique in having vascularized corneas. On the average, an adult manatee measures up to 4 meters long, and weighs close to 600 kilograms; females tend to be longer and heavier. Recorded size values are beyond the mentioned figures.
A female manatee has two teats, one under each flipper. A manatee's lungs occupy about 2/3 of the body