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dugong Dugong Research Scientific name: Dugong Dugon Status: Vulnerable to extinction since 1982 (IUCN) Appendix I of CITES Taxonomy: Class Mammalia Order Sirenia
Evolution of Sirenia Many scientists believe that sirenians evolved around fifty-five million years ago from small hoofed animals. The closests living relatives today
the other manatees because it has smooth skin and no nails at the end of its flippers. A dugong is another type of manatee. It is found in the coastal waters of the
biological environments and is home to thousands of animals and plants. It is home to large dugong, turtle and mangrove populations and contains a lot of value for
valued mainly for their role as fish nursery areas and as feeding grounds for food fish, dugong, turtles and wading birds. They also anchor sediments and help maintain
Submitted by anna_uk on August 9, 2005
Category: Science
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Dugong Research
Scientific name: Dugong Dugon
Status: Vulnerable to extinction since 1982 (IUCN)
Appendix I of CITES
Taxonomy:
Class Mammalia
Order Sirenia
Family Dugongidae
Genus Dugong
Species dugon
Common Name dugong or sea cow
Local Name duyong or baboy dagat
Description:
The dugong is one of the 24 species of marine mammals present in the Philippine waters. The dugong is the only representative of the order Sirenia to be found in the country. It is a truly unique aquatic animal, being the only herbivorous mammal whose preferred habitat is the sea. Like people and other mammals, the dugong is warm-blooded, has hairs, breathes air and the mother suckles their young. It has been noted that stories on mermaids are attributed to this unique animal due to its striking resemblance fish-like tail, brownish smooth skin, mammary glands, woman-like genitalia and even its' suckling baby.
An adult dugong can grow to more than three meters in length and can weigh more than 400 kg. Newborns are a little over a meter, while mature animals measure at least 2.5 meters in length (Marsh et al. 1984). The dugong's body is torpedo-shaped with whale-like flukes. The neck is short and indistinct. The flippers are small and short are used for manoeuvring and as a support during feeding or resting at the sea bottom.
The color of an adult dugong is greyish bronze, which becomes lighter ventrally. Neonates and juveniles are lighter and are browner in color. The skin is tough, heavily scarred and usually colonized with barnacles in older animals. Short/stiff hair and fine/thin hair is sparsely distributed throughout the back of the animal. Hair is almost absent in the abdomen but are large, thick and abundant in the snout region. The upper lip forms the rostral disc, which is horseshoe in shape and is covered with a lot of thick and long vibrissae...
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