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Dugongs, manatees, and sea cows
Order : Sirenia
The order of sirenians contains five species in two families (Dugongidae and Trichechidae). The four living species of the Sirenia are the dugong, Amazonian manatee, West Indian manatee and African manatee. One species (Steller's sea cow) is extinct. The members of the order Sirenia are believed to be relatives of the elephants. Members of this order live their lives in the water and feed primarily on vegetation. They are seal-like animals with big streamlined bodies. To avoid danger a manatee or dugong can swim up to 16 miles per hour, but usually they swim much, much slower. The three species of manatees, and the closely related dugong, are unique in that they are the only plant-eating marine mammals in modern times. The most dangerous threat to them is hunting, fishing nets and boat accidents.
Dugongs
The dugong is the smallest member of the order of the Sirenia. The name 'Dugong' comes from the Malay word 'duyong', which means "lady of the sea" or "mermaid". The best chance to encounter the dugongs is in northern Australian waters, where most of their population live. Dugongs don't see that well, instead they use their acute hearing. They feed in the shallow waters on seagrass with the aid of coarse, sensitive bristles, which cover the upper lip of their large and fleshy snout. Remember they are closely related to elephants? Dugong males have small tusks, which they use during the mating season to challenge other dugongs.
Manatees
Most Amazonian manatees have a distinct white or bright pink patch on their breast. The largest recorded Amazonian was a male with a length of 2.8 m. In the wild it is difficult to measure, but captive adults daily consume from 9 - 15 kg. Amazonian manatees mostly feed during the wet season, when they eat new vegetation in seasonally flooded backwaters. During the dry season (September - March), they congregate in the main river channels or in deep parts of larger lakes, and may fast for weeks or months for lack of available food plants.The largest groups of manatees observed consist of only 4 - 8 animals. Most manatees are either solitary or a female with her young.
The West Indian manatee has a uniform gray or brown color. Some may weigh up to 3000 pounds, but averages lie between 400 and 800 pounds. They can reach lengths of up to 4.5 m! All manatees have a split upper lip. They use both parts of the lip to help put food in their mouths.Because grasses aren't very nutritious they feed on huge quantities. This has also given them a very slow metabolism. Some taxonomies differ two subspecies, the Florida Manatee and the Antillean Manatee.
The West African manatees are found in coastal marine and estuarine habitats, and in fresh water river systems along the west coast of Africa from the Senegal River south to the Kwanza River in Angola.It looks very similar to the West Indian manatee. They can reach the same size and length as West Indian manatees. The West African manatee is the most threatened of all manatee species.
Photograph dugong by Lorry Tan
Distribution map by The Wild Ones
dugongs
Amazonian manatee
West indian manatee
West African manatee
Facts about the order Sirenia, the dugongs, manatees, and sea cows
Manatees and dugongs, also known as sea cows, are the only aquatic mammals which feed solely on plants.
com | 10/03/2005 | Protection of sea cows is no longer a sacred cow var krd_site = "miami"; var krd_site_display_name = "MiamiHerald.
Don't be too surprised though because the music of Sirenia is basically exactly like the last two Tristania albums.
Email this Article to a Friend Printer Friendly Version Tanzania's sea cow population near extinctionSource: Copyright 2003, Associated PressDate: July 31, 2003Byline: George Mwangi, Associated PressDAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — Tanzania's small population of sea cows is rapidly facing extinction due to entanglement and drowning in gill nets, a report says.
Introduction to the Sirenia Sea-cows are herbivores that graze on sea-grasses and related plants, though some will eat algae and floating monocots, such as Pistia and.
Sea cows are indigenous to our area.
Sirenia is the band formed by guitarist/vocalist Morten Veland following his departure from Tristania.
The really sad part about Jacques' musical on Sea Cows is that it was never finished because he got sidetracked by a giant lawsuit with the rock group Jethro Tull over their use of "Aqualung" as a title for their album.
showtopic=27&st=0Sirenia is not bad, but I like Tristania more. (Full text)
Sirenia is a gothic metal band from Stavanger, Norway. (Full text)
Sirenia is a Greek-mythological name based on the sirens who lured men into death with their overwhelming beauty and wonderful singing. (Full text)
Sea cows are threatened with extinction due to pollution of the sea grass beds and shallow tropical waters throughout the Indo-Pacific region that they inhabit. (Full text)
Sea cows are more closely aligned with elephants, horses, and tapirs. (Full text)
sea cows are all over the bible. (Full text)
I like Dopplegangers BUT Sea Cows is my favourite . (Full text)
Steller's sea cows Sorry, momently content to the term "Steller's sea cows" is not available. (Full text)
Manatees and Dugongs Order Sirenia Sirenia is a small order of fully-marine (Full text)
) ^ | 08/01/03 | Kathy Marks Posted on 07/31/2003 3:00:33 PM PDT by Pokey78 A colony of rare dugongs, or sea cows, is under threat because of a natural gas plant being built on the harbour at Darwin in northern Australia, marine scientists have warned. (Full text)
Just how the toxin kills the sea cows is not fully understood, Tom Pitchford, director of the state’s manatee pathology lab in St. (Full text)
Could it be a resurgence of sea cows is not the motive, but control of human activity? (Full text)
Sirenia is not a member of any public groups (Full text)
Sea cows are also known as manatees. (Full text)
Sea cows are seal-like creatures descended from terrestial swamp browsers that lived 55 million years ago and can grow to 3. (Full text)
But all in all I can say that most of the music I listen to myself is music from the 80's, so maybe this up-rocked expression of Sirenia is partly a result of that. (Full text)
Sea-cows are herbivores that graze on sea-grasses and related plants, though some will eat algae and floating monocots, such as Pistia and Eichhornia, and they will occasionally eat shellfish and dead fish. (Full text)
1. Sirenia, order Sirenia -- (manatees; dugongs; Stellar's sea cow)Sirenia
order Sirenia
(Source WordNet)