184 A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEAS 



The only other purely aquatic mammals — the Dugongs 

 and Manatees or Sirens — seem to be on their way towards 

 sharing the Whale's fate, since they are comparatively 

 defenceless and have from early times been hunted for 

 their flesh. In systematic zoology these strange mammals 

 are placed before the more highly specialised Whales 

 since in some respects they show kinship with the hooved 

 animals, notably the elephants, unlikely as any such 

 relationship may appear to the casual observer. 



The Manatees and Dugongs (order Sirenia) are confined 

 to tropic waters, both salt and estuarine, on both sides of 

 the Atlantic. As the scientific name implies, the mammals 

 suggest by their appearance the classic sirens and mermaids 

 of legend, and it is possible that such mythical beings had 

 their origin in the primitive man's first sight of a Manatee 

 standing waist high out of the water with its single young 

 being suckled at its well-developed breast. 



In general appearance Manatees and Dugongs bear some 

 superficial resemblance to Whales. They have the fore 

 limbs converted into flippers and have no hind limbs, 

 but the coarse rough skin is usually sparsely haired and the 

 relatively small head has the upper lip split, the two halves 

 working like a pair of blunt and clumsy claspers, by means 

 of which seaweed is torn from the sea-bed and then tucked 

 into the animal's mouth. 



Internally these creatures show unmistakable affinities 

 with the elephants both in the skull and in the pelvic 

 bones, the latter being almost non-existent in the Whale. 

 As with the elephant the young are fed at the breast, and 

 the study of fossil species justifies the conclusion that 

 both originated from common ancestors whose progeny 



