Synonyms
Common Name: Manatee and Dugong
Introduction
Sirenians derived their name from the Greek mythological name, sirens, believed to have its origin from lonely sailors confusing these marine mammals with mermaids. They are also known as sea cows as their diet is primarily herbivorous composed of submerged sea grass and floating or emerging vegetation. Some species can on occasion eat fish or crustaceans. They spend a large part of their day eating and are slow moving, nonaggressive animals.
They have sparse hair over their body, mammary glands tucked under their pectoral flippers used to nurse their calves for 18 months or more, are warm blooded, and breathe air.
Modern-day sirenians contain two genera: Trichechus (manatees) which live in tropical or subtropical waters of the Americas within primarily the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, Caribbean, Amazonian rivers, and West Africa and the Dugong found in the Indian and Pacific Ocean (Velez-Juarbe et al. 2012).
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References
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Moore, D.P. (2018). Sirenia Morphology. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1312-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1312-1
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