The manatee (called lamentin sometimes) is a large Mammifère Herbivore, with the tapered body, alive out of not very deep littoral water, in the mouth of the rivers and the coastal marshes of the tropical zone of the Atlantique. Its broad facies is worth sometimes the nickname to him of “Vache of sea” or “cow marinades”.
It constitutes with the Dugong, the order of the Siréniens, the family of the Trichechidae, Trichechus . According to the authors, the manatees count three or four very close species.
Description
The Trichechidae differ from the Dugongidae by the shape of cranium and that of the tail. The latter represents a kind of pallet at the first while it is divided into two among seconds.This tail is purely muscular, without bone to support it; the back legs of the manatees are indeed completely Vestigiales. See here, here and here skeletons of manatee.
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a species, the Trichechus senegalensis lives the Western coast of the Africa and the hydrographic network of all West Africa until the Chad. “The distribution of the West African manatee at the same time vast but is parcelled out in Mauritania and with the Senegal, in the North-West, through the zone Sahélienne (Mali, Niger), in Chad and along the coastal area (Guinea, Ghana, etc) until in Angola. Thus, it is able to live in a broad variety of wetlands, coastal marine ecosystems with the plains of floods of the interior, lakes and rivers. Its presence was confirmed in the West African littoral area (of Mauritania in Guinea) in all the countries except the Cap Verde. "
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Trichechus inunguis lives in the basin Amazonia N, in South America,
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Trichechus manatus manatus is the Lamantin of Martinique and the Caribbean. It includes/understands two subspecies:
- Trichechus manatus manatus , the Manatee of Martinique,
- Trichechus manatus latirostris , the Manatee of Florida.
It can come very close to five meters length and weigh nearly a ton and half. Its life expectancy is of about thirty years. Rare and protected today in the whole world, it was in the past driven out for its oil and its flesh.
With its tiny eyes and creases, the animal is not as short-sighted as it appears to with it: it distinguishes at sight the shapes and the colors of the objects.
Food
The manatees are exclusively herbivorous, not Ruminant S, and consume floating or immersed grasses. The Seedling S of Mangrove S ( Rhizophora ), of Hyacinth of water ( Eichhornia crassipes ), of the Boulghour (Echinochloa pyramidalis) or of the Graminée S (Paspalum vaginatum) form its meals. A manatee can eat until 50 kilos of plants per day. In spite of the fact that it is an animal Diurne, it is nourished apparently only exclusively the night. The plants which it consumes often contain of the Silice which causes the abrasion of the teeth. This phenomenon is compensated by a permanent replacement of the teeth. These watery plants have energy poor yield what perhaps explains why the manatees have a metabolic rate very low, and cannot live with the lower parts of 20 °C.
A threatened species
the manatee of the the Caribbean is particularly threatened : it disappeared from many islands of the the Antilles like the Martinique or the Guadeloupe. Although it does not have any predator, the human expansion reduced its habitat in the coastal marshes and much of individuals are wounded by the propellers of the outboard motor boat. The accidental ingestion of nets and other accessories of fishing can also kill it. The discharge of cooling waters of the atomic power stations the exemption today of seasonal migrations what creates an annoying dependence at the day of their closing. Recently, it was necessary that American services of fauna intervene to transplant manatees exposed to this unexpected danger.To swim, sleep, câliner: thus the life of the manatee goes. The play with the man is for the manatees of Florida a recent passion but forces. They entichent readily plungers and researchers who lavish caresses to them. Since 1904, the State of Florida prohibited the hunting of these inoffensive animals. It is prohibited today in the whole world. The shocks with the boats are the leading cause of mortality in the manatees of Florida. The aquarium of Miami is the first to have made a success of the reproduction in " captivité".
Here it is a graph of their population between 1991 and 2006. It is a little diverting because the population can increase and go down much. Then it is difficult to know if they will disappear. The year and the population (year-population): 2006-3116; 2005-3143; 2004-2505; 2003-2843; 2002-1758; 2001-3300; 2000-1646; 1999-1865; 1998-2018; 1997-2241; 1996-2277; 1995-1456; 1994-non available; 1993-non available; 1992-1844; 1991-1267.
Reproduction
A female manatee can nourish at the same time two small. It is despite everything a exceptional phenomenon, because these siréniens seldom makes twins. It happens however that an orphan is adopted by a nurse who is not her mother. Sometimes, even, it head several females of the herd.
Symbolic system
The manatees are an origin often advanced to explain the legend of the sirens: their body can indeed let think of a bust of woman, especially for sailors having sailed during months. Just as the song of the sirens is compared to that of the manatees - it would be indeed compared with a lamentation. The shape of the tail of the sirens would be, as for it, rather due to that of the dugongs, cousins of the manatees.
References
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