SEA COW
Main Entry: sea cow
Function: noun
Date: 1613
: SIRENIAN
Main Entry: si•re•ni•an
Pronunciation: sI-'rE-nE-&n
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin Sirenia, from Latin siren
Date: 1883
: any of an order (Sirenia) of aquatic herbivorous mammals including the manatee, dugong, and Steller's sea cow
Order Sirenia:
Four living species placed in two families make up this order. Sirenians, which are sometimes called sea cows, are large mammals that spend their entire lives in water. Their forelimbs are modified to form flippers, their hindlimbs are reduced to nothing more than a vestigial pelvis, and their tail is enlarged and flattended horizontally to form a fluke or paddle. Sirenians are massive, sometimes weighing over 2535 lbs.
A fifth species of sirenian is extinct. The Stellar sea cow was a huge sirenian (probably over 13228 lbs., the size of an African elephant!) related to dugongs. It lived in the Bering Sea, where it fed on seaweed (no other mammal feeds exclusively on seaweed). Stellar sea cows were exterminated by sailors in the mid 1700's, shortly after their discovery. The remaining sirenians are manatees and dugongs. Sirenians are vegetarians, feeding on a variety of marine algae and higher plants.
Family Trichechidae:
Three species of manatee make up this family. Manatees are found along the coast of the southeastern US, in the West Indies and adjacent parts of South America, in the Amazon and Orinoco drainages of South America, and tropical west Africa. Manatees are very large. Their maximum length may exceed 13 ft., and their weight 2205 lbs.
Family Dugongidae:
This family contains two modern species, dugongs and Stellar's sea cow, the latter unfortunately now extinct. Dugongs are found along the coasts of east Africa, the Red Sea, and across most of coastal Asia through the Philippines (but not as far north as Japan), and Australia. Stellar's sea cow lived in the Bering Sea.
Dugongs are large mammals, weighing up to around 882 lbs. and measuring up to 11.5 ft. in length. Sea cows were immense, reaching almost 26.25 ft. in length and weighing around 11,023 lbs. Dugongids lack the vestigial nails on their flippers that are possessed by manatees. Also unlike manatees, their tail flukes are deeply notched, not rounded, and their upper lip, while massive, is not as deeply split as is the lip of manatees.
Function: noun
Date: 1613
: SIRENIAN
Main Entry: si•re•ni•an
Pronunciation: sI-'rE-nE-&n
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin Sirenia, from Latin siren
Date: 1883
: any of an order (Sirenia) of aquatic herbivorous mammals including the manatee, dugong, and Steller's sea cow
Order Sirenia:
Four living species placed in two families make up this order. Sirenians, which are sometimes called sea cows, are large mammals that spend their entire lives in water. Their forelimbs are modified to form flippers, their hindlimbs are reduced to nothing more than a vestigial pelvis, and their tail is enlarged and flattended horizontally to form a fluke or paddle. Sirenians are massive, sometimes weighing over 2535 lbs.
A fifth species of sirenian is extinct. The Stellar sea cow was a huge sirenian (probably over 13228 lbs., the size of an African elephant!) related to dugongs. It lived in the Bering Sea, where it fed on seaweed (no other mammal feeds exclusively on seaweed). Stellar sea cows were exterminated by sailors in the mid 1700's, shortly after their discovery. The remaining sirenians are manatees and dugongs. Sirenians are vegetarians, feeding on a variety of marine algae and higher plants.
Family Trichechidae:
Three species of manatee make up this family. Manatees are found along the coast of the southeastern US, in the West Indies and adjacent parts of South America, in the Amazon and Orinoco drainages of South America, and tropical west Africa. Manatees are very large. Their maximum length may exceed 13 ft., and their weight 2205 lbs.
Family Dugongidae:
This family contains two modern species, dugongs and Stellar's sea cow, the latter unfortunately now extinct. Dugongs are found along the coasts of east Africa, the Red Sea, and across most of coastal Asia through the Philippines (but not as far north as Japan), and Australia. Stellar's sea cow lived in the Bering Sea.
Dugongs are large mammals, weighing up to around 882 lbs. and measuring up to 11.5 ft. in length. Sea cows were immense, reaching almost 26.25 ft. in length and weighing around 11,023 lbs. Dugongids lack the vestigial nails on their flippers that are possessed by manatees. Also unlike manatees, their tail flukes are deeply notched, not rounded, and their upper lip, while massive, is not as deeply split as is the lip of manatees.