Are manatees and whales mammals?
Sometimes the setting shapes their bodies more than their ancestry. Manatees may look like whales or walruses, but that is only because they adapted to the marine environment in a similar way. Martha Foley: Let’s talk a little bit more about manatees. Because they’re mammals, and they’re related to elephants.
What type of animal is a manatee?
sea cows
The manatee is a large marine mammal with an egg-shaped head, flippers and a flat tail. Manatees are also known as sea cows. This name is apt, due to their large stature; slow, lolling nature; and propensity to be eaten by other animals. However, despite the name, they are more closely related to elephants.
Is a manatee a sea animal?
What is a manatee? Manatees are aquatic mammals that belong to a group of animals called Sirenia. Manatees are also related to a huge, subarctic sirenian called the Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), which was hunted to extinction in the 1760s.
What 3 animals are manatees related to?
Manatees are large, docile aquatic mammals. There are three species of manatee. They are in the order Sirenia along with the dugong and the extinct Steller’s sea cow. Although manatees and the dugong share many similarities with marine mammals such as seals, their closest living relatives are elephants.
Are manatee sea lions?
Manatees belong to the family, Trichechidae, of the Mammalian Order Sirenia. Despite the manatee’s aquatic appearance, it is not closely related to whales, dolphins, seals, or sea lions. In fact, their closest relatives are elephants and hyraxes. Like elephants and hyraxes, they are herbivorous.
What is the closest animal to a manatee?
elephants
Despite the nickname “sea cow,” manatees are more closely related to another four-legged mammal. It has been suggested that manatees evolved from four-legged land mammals over millions of years, and that the closest relative to today’s manatees is elephants.