Prehistoric Models: Sirenia

(dugongs and manatees)

Mammals are a class animals defined as warm-blooded vertebrates, distinguished by the possession of hair or fur, the secretion of milk by females for the nourishment of the young, and (typically) the birth of live young (with only two modern exceptions). 

Sirenia are more commonly known as sirenians or “sea cows“, although they are more closely related to elephants. Members of Sirenia are part of an order of exclusively aquatic herbivorous mammals. They first appeared in the Eocene Epoch some 50 million years ago. To see my fossil Sirenia click here.

Kingdom: Animalia – Phylum: Chordata – Superclass: Tetrapoda – Class: Mammalia – Order: Sirenia

(Manatees)

 Early Eocene to Holocene

Common Name: Manatee (sea cows)
Genus: Trichechus (Linnaeus 1758)
Species: T. inunguis (Amazonian manatee), T. manatus (West Indian manatee), T. senegalensis (West African manatee) and the extinct T. hesperamazonicus
Size: 4.0m (13.1 ft)
Wieght: 590 kilograms (1,3000 lb)
Time: Early Pleistocene to Holocene
Diet: Herbivore