538 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



Family TRICHECHIDAE: Manatees 



WEST INDIAN MANATEE 

 TRICHECHUS MANATTJS MANATUS Linnaeus 



Trichechus manatus Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, p. 34, 1758 ("In Mari 



Americano"; fixed by Thomas as West Indies). 

 SYNONYMS: Manatus koellikeri Kiikenthal, Zool. Anz., vol. 20, p. 40, 1897 (Surinam). 



For other and older synonyms, see Hatt, 1934, pp. 534-537. 

 FIGS.: True, 1884b, pis. 33, 34 (exterior); Elliot, 1904, pt. 1, pis. 4, 5 (skull), fig. 14 



(exterior). 



While there is no evidence that any of the manatees is in 

 immediate danger of extermination, the fact that wherever 

 found they are sought by local populations for food makes 

 their tenure at all times precarious on account of their limited 

 range and inoffensiveness. At the present time three species 

 are recognized, of which one, T. inunguis, is confined to the 

 Amazon and Orinoco. 



The West Indian manatee attains a total length of about 15 

 feet, usually less, and in form of body is somewhat cetacean- 

 like, lacking hind limbs. The tail ends in a broad, rounded 

 lobe unlike the flukes of the dugongs. The fore limbs are 

 paddlelike, with four flat nails each and are rather freely mov- 

 able, so that they are used in manipulating the food. The skin 

 is hairless and of a dark gray -black color. The upper lip forms 

 a broad, flat disk, somewhat bristly, with the nostrils opening 

 separately at the summit. The rostrum of the skull is but 

 slightly bent down, there are no upper tusks, and the end of 

 the lower jaw is deflected and provided with a horny plate in 

 lieu of teeth. The cheek teeth form a continuous row, with 

 two tuberculate transverse ridges each. Their method of suc- 

 cession is peculiar in that the roots of the anterior ones gradu- 

 ally resorb; these teeth fall one by one and the posterior ones 

 work forward, giving place to others coming in at the back of 

 the row. There are two pectoral mammae. 



The range of the West Indian manatee presumably includes 

 the waters about the Bahamas and the Greater Antilles, thence 

 across to the coasts of Yucatan and southern Mexico, and 

 coastwise along the shores of Central America and northern 

 South America to the Guianas. It often enters lagoons or the 

 lower reaches of rivers emptying into the sea. Among the 

 Bahamas there is almost no information of its status at the 



