SB

= MANATEES =

Manatees are my favourite aquatic animal. They are graceful and very passive creatures - they make me smile!
media type="custom" key="24508558"

Manatees are a living animal because it grows and develops, it responds, it reproduces, and it has more than one blood cell.
GROWS AND DEVELOPS

====One of the developments that manatees have is at birth they develop a large hearing bone that goes down to their cheek bones. When manatees are born they weigh 60 pounds and four feet long. When manatees are 1 or 2 years old they are about five feet long and when they are sub adult they are about under or close to nine feet. When manatees are full grown they are nine feet or lager. Manatees can grow also to 13 feet and weigh 3000 pounds or 10 feet and weigh 1000 pounds.====

RESPONDS

Manatees emit sounds under water, such as chirps, squeaks, and whistles produced in the larynx. They usually make these sounds when they are frighten or interacting with each other.
REPRODUCTION

====Male manatees are mature at ten to nine years or sometimes mature at three or two years of age. Female manatees are mature at three or two years old. Florida and West Africa manatees breed year round. Florida manatees female usually produces one calf about every two to five years. The calf may have a twin but that rare. Manatees pregnancy is about a year or one month less. The calf can be born head or tail first. Florida manatees seem to been born in the spring and summer time and the Amazonian manatees are born in February to May. The calf is nurtured by its mother for two whole years.====

MORE THAN ONE BLOOD CELL

The manatees blood cell count is made up of 90% white blood cells. Manatees have a greater chance of fighting infections because they have a large amount of white blood cells.


MANATEES CHARACTERISTICS

BEHAVIOR


 * 1) ==== Daily Activity Cycle : Manatees are nonaggressive and non territorial herbivores. They can and spend up to eight hours a day feeding and resting two to twelve hours a day.====
 * 2) ==== Social Behavior : The social unit of manatees is usually a mother and calf. They will sometimes gather and vary depending on sex, number or age. They will join together in winter at a warm water refuge.====

SENSES


 * 1) ==== Hearing **:** Manatees can hear low frequency sounds. It's very important for young manatees to have this sense because the mother and her calf have special sounds to help keep them together.====
 * 2) ==== Eyesight : Manatees eyes are very developed. They are able to see objects that are ten meters away. There have been tests that show manatees can detect between blue and green colours. The manatees also has an extra transparent membrane that acts like an eyelid for protection. Instead of producing salt water to lubricate their eyes, manatees produce a oily fluid. This helps keep dirt out and protects the eyes.====
 * 3) ==== Taste and Smell **:** Studies have shown that Manatees have taste buds on the back of their tongues and think they should be able to taste. Studies have also show that Manatees have olfactory tissue on the small internal nasal nose bones, which enables them to smell.====

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE


 * 1) ==== Body Shape : Manatees are large and full around the middle. They narrower closer to the tail.====
 * 2) ==== Pectoral Flippers : The two flippers are on the manatees upper body are used for steering. These are very flexible and help when eating. They can also be used to touch scratching and even hugging other manatees.====
 * 3) ==== Tale : The manatees tail is shaped like a paddle. When manatees swim they move their tale in an up and down motion.====



BASIC NEEDS

FOOD ====All manatees that live in Florida eat shoal grass, turtle grass, water hyacinth, and hydrilla which the are both fresh water and salt water plants. Manatees that live any where else eat rice plants, acorns, and different types of alge. Manatees feed from the surface, in the water column and on the bottom of the water.====

SHELTER ====Manatees don't do well in cold water because of their body are designed. Manatees can't survive in water that is 60 degrees or less, otherwise they will die. Many manatees migrate the winter near the coast of Florida, where the water is very warm.====

WATER

Some manatees can travel to salt water and fresh water. Every two weeks they make a trip to the fresh water lakes.
AIR ====Manatees breath through their nostrils instead of a blow hole. Manatees breath by going up to the surface of the water and breathing in 5 times. While under water they are able to close their nostrils to keep the water out.====

MANATEES ARE LOCATED IN:

Amazonian manatee: South America



 * ====** Scientific Classifications **==== ||  || ====** Definitions **==== ||
 * Kingdom: || Animalia || * it an animal
 * living things that are organized
 * is made up of cells
 * it responds
 * it grows
 * it produces ||
 * Phylum: || Chordata || * having some stage of development such as a notochord ( flexible spinal column )
 * you have a vertebra
 * notochord in other terms a dorsal nerve cord ||
 * Class: || Mammalia || * its warm blooded
 * it nurses its baby
 * they are able to move around with their limbs
 * they have to eat a lot of food to main tame their high body tempter ||
 * Infraclass: || Eutherian || * a subclass of mammals all of which have a placenta and reach an advanced state of development before birth. ||
 * Order: || ** Sirenia ** || * fully aquatic animal
 * herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, marine wetland ||
 * Family: || ====** Trichechidae **==== || * three species that make up this family are placed in one genus ||
 * Genus: || ** Trichechus Linnaeus ** || * scientific name for a manatee ||

FUN FACTS


 * 1) ====The manatees brain is smoother than most manmals and is the size of a grapefruit.====
 * 2) ====The manatee has the densest bones on earth. Except the sternum and vertebrate, their bones have no marrow.====
 * 3) ====The manatees are also known as sea cows.====

Bibliography:

__ [|www.the] free dictionary.com/chordate|www.the free dictionary.com/chordate/ __ [|www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Chordate.html] [|www.savethemanatee.org/manfcts.htm] [|www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/manatee][|/] __[|www.YouTube.com]__ [] []