Manatee :

manatee:common name for three species of large water mammals popularly called sea cows। The Amazonian manatee occurs in the Amazon river system, the West Indian manatee is found in central Florida and along the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts, and the West African manatee is found in rivers of tropical West Africa. A manatee usually stays within its small home range, where it grazes on water plants. Its greyish to black corpulent body tapers to a horizontally flattened, rounded tail. The forelimbs are flippers set close to the head; it has no external hind limbs. The head is small, with a straight snout and a cleft upper lip with bristly hairs. Adults are about 2.5 to 4.5 m (8 to 15 ft) long depending on the species, and weigh 200 to 600 kg (440 to 1,300 lb). They live in small family groups and sometimes in herds of 15 to 20; groups of 500 to 1,000 Amazonian manatees may be observed during the dry season. After a gestation of about a year, usually a single pinkish calf is born. The number of manatees has been reduced by heavy hunting for their hides, meat, and blubber oil, but some governments, including the United States, have placed them under protection. One practical reason for this is that they have proved useful in clearing irrigation and transport channels clogged with water plants. See also Dugong.

Scientific classification :

Manatees make up the family Trichechidae in the order Sirenia. The South American manatee is classified as Trichechus inunguis, the Caribbean manatee as Trichechus manatus, and the African manatee as Trichechus senegalensis.