Florida Manatee
Trichechus manatus latirostris
Keith C, period 5
Zoology Web Page Project Report
There are many animals in the world, and most live in the ocean. One of these is the manatee. This animal is a mammal that breathes oxygen, but lives in the water. The manatee has four main areas of the world in which it lives. The manatees that live in Florida are the Florida Manatees. The manatees that live in the Antilles are the Antillean Manatees. You can probably guess what the manatees that live in the Amazon or in West Africa are called. As you look at those four areas, you might see that all of them are tropical or subtropical. That is because the manatees live in those types of water.
Manatees are mammals that live in water. They are rumored to be the start of many mermaid myths, and are often called sea cows. They are closely related to elephants, and are also related to humans. That means that they have many of the same body systems as us.
The main manatee that I am going to focus on in this report is the Florida Manatee. This chubby “sea cow” is part of the kingdom animalia, the phylum chordata, the class mammalia, the order sirenia, the family Trichechidea, the genus Trichechus, the species manatus, and the subspecies Trichechus manatus latirostris. Because it is in the phylum chordata, this animal is a vertebrate deuterostome. It has a eucoelom and closed circulation. It has an endoskeleton and is endothermic. That means that it is warm blooded. The endoskeleton is an interior skeleton. That skeleton includes bones in the body, head, fins, and tail. The flipper bones and tail bones help with movement.
Since this animal is a mammal, it has many of the same organs and functions as we do. They have a closed circulatory system with a four-chambered heart. It has a respiratory system that helps in feeding, resting, and controlling buoyancy. Its excretory system is made up of kidneys and a urinary bladder. It has reproductive organs that are attached to its pelvic bones. And, even though it is a mammal, it only has six cervical vertebrae. Most mammals have seven.
The Florida Manatee is an endangered species, with about 2,200 left in January 2000. Florida has been trying to save these creatures with fines and acts to stop the killing of these animals. Humans hunted these animals and now powerboats are killing them. Development along the shore is not helping with the endangerment either. There is also too much pollution and diseases killing these mammals.
The manatee is an herbivore, which means it eats mostly plants. It eats underwater plants and other plant life. It doesn’t have front teeth, and have mouths similar to elephants. They have four sets of six to eight molars in their mouth. That helps it adapt to being an herbivore.
The Florida Manatee lives in the waterways of Florida and, rarely ever ventures out into the open ocean. They have, however, been seen as far out as far as 50 miles from Key West. They also live in other coastal areas from Florida to Virginia and on the southern coast.
The manatee has separate sexes and internal fertilization. The cows nurse their calves for about a year, and the calf stays with the mother for about two years.
I received most of my information from the following sites: