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What weights over 1000 pounds, looks a bit like a walrus with wrinkled, gray-brown, spongy skin, is sometimes called a "sea cow", is related to an elephant, was mistaken for mermaids, can eat more than 100 pounds of vegetables per day, and travels an average of 3 to 5 miles per hour? Why the manatee, of course!
These large animals were once thought to be related to walrus because of the way they look. Today, scientists are able to identify animals using genetics. Now they know that manatees are more closely related to elephants than any other living animal. Scientists believe that manatees evolved from land mammals that returned to an aquatic life.
Manatees are large marine mammals weighing up to 2000 pounds and reaching more than 12 feet in length. Like whales, their large bodies can only be supported in their watery environment. On land, their body weight would crush their internal organs.
Manatees are the only marine mammals that are herbivores. Just to keep their big bodies warm, they have to eat up to one tenth of their body weight every day. For the typical manatee that means more than 100 pounds of water plants! That's equal to more than 200 heads of lettuce!
Keeping warm is a real problem for these animals. Their cylindrical bodies help conserve heat, but they don't have the blubber that other marine mammals do. Their metabolism is also very low, so they don't generate a lot of body heat. As a result, they can get sick when the water temperature falls below 70° F. In cold water, they can develop pneumonia, get too sluggish to eat, and can die. Most manatees live in warm, tropical waters, but Florida manatees live in sub-tropical waters that get below 70° F in the winter months (Dec. through Mar.). Manatees have a behavior which helps them survive the colder water. In the winter, they seek out the natural warm springs of Florida's coastal rivers. They even gather where electric power plants discharge warm water. To protect manatees, many of these areas are now Manatee Sanctuaries.
These large animals were once thought to be related to walrus because of the way they look. Today, scientists are able to identify animals using genetics. Now they know that manatees are more closely related to elephants than any other living animal. Scientists believe that manatees evolved from land mammals that returned to an aquatic life.
Manatees are large marine mammals weighing up to 2000 pounds and reaching more than 12 feet in length. Like whales, their large bodies can only be supported in their watery environment. On land, their body weight would crush their internal organs.
Manatees are the only marine mammals that are herbivores. Just to keep their big bodies warm, they have to eat up to one tenth of their body weight every day. For the typical manatee that means more than 100 pounds of water plants! That's equal to more than 200 heads of lettuce!
Keeping warm is a real problem for these animals. Their cylindrical bodies help conserve heat, but they don't have the blubber that other marine mammals do. Their metabolism is also very low, so they don't generate a lot of body heat. As a result, they can get sick when the water temperature falls below 70° F. In cold water, they can develop pneumonia, get too sluggish to eat, and can die. Most manatees live in warm, tropical waters, but Florida manatees live in sub-tropical waters that get below 70° F in the winter months (Dec. through Mar.). Manatees have a behavior which helps them survive the colder water. In the winter, they seek out the natural warm springs of Florida's coastal rivers. They even gather where electric power plants discharge warm water. To protect manatees, many of these areas are now Manatee Sanctuaries.