endangered animals

Manatees, dugongs, or sea cows are large, passive, herbivorous aquatic mammals in the order Sirenia. There are four species of sirenians that are either endangered or significantly threatened by humans and their activites. Sirenians are charismatic animals. Considering this, it is difficult to imagine how sightings of dugongs could have been the basis of mariner's fables of mermaids. Sirenians are large animals weighing as much as 1,544 lb (700 kg) with a body length of up to 14.8 ft (4.5 m) and a large hard with a small mouth. Sirenians have paddle-shaped forelimbs, no hindlimbs and a broad flattened tail. Their bones are heavy and dense for maintaining near-neutral buoyancy so that these animals can easily stay submerged while feeding.
Sirenians have thick, nearly hairless skin. There are stiff hairs (ubrissae) around the mouth, which are tactile sensors for detecting food in turbid waters. The teeth of Sirenians are reduced and specialized for processing vegetation and one Sirenian, Steller's sea cows completely lacks teeth. The nostrils open on the top of the flat faced muzzle, and can be closed when submerged. Sirenians have small eyes and poor vision, but they have a good sense of hearing. Manatees (genus Trichechus) have an evenly rounded tail while the dugong (genus Dugong) has a deeply notched tail. The upper lips of the manatees is deeply cleft, and male dugongs have a pair of incisor teeth sirenians eat a wide range of marine plants such as turtle grasses, sea grasses kelps, and other large species of algae. Manatees, also called sea cows, are on the endangered list. Like some humans, manatees seek warm water in Florida when its cold and often end up sharing the same space. Everybody be hitting manatee on their backs and be killing the manatees. The manatees do not be living long. Sirenian, a herbivorous mammal of the order Sirenia especially adopted to life in the water.

Nederlandse versie volgt z.s.m.

Written by: Josette

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