Florida Manatee — printable fact sheet
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Florida Manatee
Trichechus manatus latirostris
The Florida manatee is a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, and the single fact that governs its entire life is that it cannot handle cold. It is a huge, slow, wholly herbivorous mammal with very little insulating fat and a metabolism far slower than its bulk suggests, so wa…
Did you know?
- Manatees have no natural predators, but their greatest threat comes from human-related activities, especially boat strikes.
- Cold water kills it, so manatees crowd into warm springs and power-plant outflows each winter — and now depend on those plants so heavily that closures are a conservation crisis. Its molars march forward through life, replacing teeth ground down by gritty seagrass. Its closest relatives are elephants, and its flippers still have nails. Researchers identify individuals by the propeller scars on their backs.
What I learned
Draw the florida manatee
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