CHAPTER XX 



THE DllGONG, MANATEES, WHALES, PORPOISES, AND DOLPHINS 



BY K. G. AFLALO, P. Z. S. 



THE DUGONG AND MANATEES 



THESE curious creatures, which seem to have been the basis of much of the old mermaid 

 legend, have puzzled many eminent naturalists. Before they were placed in an order 

 by themselves, Linnaeus had classed them with the Walrus, Cuvierwith the Whales, and 

 another French zoologist with the Elephants. They are popularly regarded as the cows of the 

 sea-pastures. Their habits justify this. I have often watched dugongs on the Queensland 

 coast browsing on the long grasses, of which they tear up tussocks with sidelong twists of the 

 head, coming to the surface to breathe at short intervals. 



Omitting the extinct Rhytina, otherwise known as Steller's Sea-cow, which was exterminated 

 in the Bering Strait not very long after civilised man had first learnt of its existence, we 

 have to consider two distinct groups, or genera, of these sirenians. The DllGONG is the 

 representative of the first, and the two MANATEES belong to the other. 



The dugong is found on the coasts of Northern Australia, in many parts of the Indian 

 Ocean (particularly off Ceylon), and in the Red Sea. It is easily distinguished, by even 

 superficial observation, from the manatees. Its tail is slightly forked, somewhat like that of 

 the whales : the tail of manatees, on the other hand, is rounded. The dugong' s flippers, to 

 which we also find a superficial resemblance in those of the whale, show no traces of external 

 nails : in those of the manatees, which show projecting nails, there is a considerable power of 

 free movement (the hands being, in fact, used in manipulating the food), which is not the 



o by A. S. Rutland if Sn( 



DUGONG 



^ vegetable-feeding sea-mammal from the Indian Ocean and North Australian water* 



327 



