Coming Up For Air Photograph by Lisa Wooten

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Coming Up For Air

by Lisa Wooten

Canvas Print

$73

Framed Print

$82

Art Print

$28

Poster

$28

Metal Print

$79

Acrylic Print

$87

Wood Print

$59

Tapestry

$44

Throw Pillow

$29

Fleece Blanket

$49

Duvet Cover

$105

Shower Curtain

$69

Bath Towel

$36

Ornament

$11

Jigsaw Puzzle

$40

Tote Bag

$29

Weekender Tote Bag

$44

Zip Pouch

$26

Portable Battery Charger

$48

Yoga Mat

$61

Greeting Card

$5.20

Spiral Notebook

$16

Sticker

$4.00

iPhone Case

$28

Beach Towel

$36

Round Beach Towel

$71

Weekender Tote Bag

$44

Coffee Mug

$15

Men's Clothing

$29

Women's Clothing

$29

Youth Clothing

$25

Toddler Clothing

$23

Baby Clothing

$27

Title

Coming Up For Air

Artist

Lisa Wooten

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

Purchased: 2020

Featured: ABC-M is for Mammal 3/22/2017

Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus Trichechus) are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species in the order Sirenia: the Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), and the West African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis). They measure up to 4.0 metres (13.1 ft) long, weigh as much as 590 kilograms (1,300 lb),[1] and have paddle-like flippers. The name manat� comes from the Spanish "manat�", derived from the Caribbean word sometimes cited as "manattou�". The etymology is dubious, with connections having been made to Latin "manus" (hand), and to a word used by the Ta�no, a pre-Columbian people of the Caribbean, meaning "breast".[2] Manatees are occasionally called sea cows, as they are slow plant-eaters, peaceful and similar to cows on land. They often graze on water plants in tropical seas.[3]
Manatees comprise three of the four living species in the order Sirenia. The fourth is the Eastern Hemisphere's dugong. The Sirenia are thought to have evolved from four-legged land mammals over 60 million years ago, with the closest living relatives being the Proboscidea (elephants) and Hyracoidea (hyraxes).[4]
The Amazonian's hair color is brownish gray, and they have thick wrinkled skin often with coarse hair, or "whiskers". Photos are rare; although very little is known about this species, scientists think they are similar to West Indian manatees.
Manatees have a mass of 400 to 550 kilograms (880 to 1,210 lb), and mean length of 2.8 to 3.0 metres (9.2 to 9.8 ft), with maxima of 3.6 metres (12 ft) and 1,775 kilograms (3,913 lb) seen (the females tend to be larger and heavier). When born, baby manatees have an average mass of 30 kilograms (66 lb). They have a large, flexible, prehensile upper lip. They use the lip to gather food and eat, as well as using it for social interactions and communications. Manatees have shorter snouts than their fellow sirenians, the dugongs. Their small, widely spaced eyes have eyelids that close in a circular manner. The adults have no incisor or canine teeth, just a set of cheek teeth, which are not clearly differentiated into molars and premolars. These teeth are continuously replaced throughout life, with new teeth growing at the rear as older teeth fall out from farther forward in the mouth. This process is known as polyphyodonty and amongst the other mammals, only occurs in the kangaroo[5] and elephant.[6][7] At any given time, a manatee typically has no more than six teeth in each jaw of its mouth.[7] Its tail is paddle-shaped, and is the clearest visible difference between manatees and dugongs; a dugong tail is fluked, similar in shape to a that of a whale. Females have two teats, one under each flipper,[8] a characteristic that was used to make early links between the manatee and elephants.
Manatees are unusual amongst mammals in possessing just six cervical vertebrae,[9] which may be due to mutations in the homeotic genes.[10] All other mammals have seven cervical vertebrae,[11] other than the two-toed and three-toed sloths.
Like horses, they have a simple stomach, but a large cecum, in which they can digest tough plant matter. In general, their intestines have a typical length of about 45 meters, which is unusually long for animals of their size.[12] Manatees produce enormous amounts of gas, which contributes to their barrel-shape, to aid in the digestion of their food.[13]
Manatees are the only animal known to have a vascularized cornea.[14]
Apart from mothers with their young, or males following a receptive female, manatees are generally solitary animals.[7] Manatees spend approximately 50% of the day sleeping submerged, surfacing for air regularly at intervals of less than 20 minutes. The remainder of the time is mostly spent grazing in shallow waters at depths of 1�2 metres (3.3�6.6 ft). The Florida subspecies (T. m. latirostris) has been known to live up to 60 years.
Generally, manatees swim at about 5 to 8 kilometres per hour (3 to 5 mph). However, they have been known to swim at up to 30 kilometres per hour (20 mph) in short bursts.[15]
Manatees are capable of understanding discrimination tasks and show signs of complex associative learning. They also have good long-term memory.[16] They demonstrate discrimination and task-learning abilities similar to dolphins and pinnipeds in acoustic and visual studies.[17]
Manatees typically breed once every two years; generally only a single calf is born. Gestation lasts about 12 months and to wean the calf takes a further 12 to 18 months.[7]
Manatees emit a wide range of sounds used in communication, especially between cows and their calves. Adults communicate to maintain contact and during sexual and play behaviors. Taste and smell, in addition to sight, sound, and touch, may also be forms of communication.
Manatees are herbivores and eat over 60 different freshwater ( e.g. floating hyacinth, pickerel weed, alligator weed, water lettuce, hydrilla, water celery, musk grass, mangrove leaves) and saltwater plants (e.g. sea grasses, shoal grass, manatee grass, turtle grass, widgeon grass, sea clover, and marine algae). Using their divided upper lip, an adult manatee will commonly eat up to 10%-15% of their body weight (about 50 kg) per day. Consuming such an amount requires the manatee to graze for up to seven hours a day.[19] Manatees have been known to eat small amounts of fish from nets.[20]
Manatees use their flippers to "walk" along the bottom whilst they dig for plants and roots in the substrate. When plants are detected, the flippers are used to scoop the vegetation toward the manatee's lips. The manatee has prehensile lips; the upper lip pad is split into left and right sides which can move independently. The lips use seven muscles to manipulate and tear at plants. Manatees use their lips and front flippers to move the plants into the mouth. The manatee does not have front teeth, however, behind the lips, on the roof of the mouth, there are dense, ridged pads. These horny ridges, and the manatee's lower jaw, tear through ingested plant material.[19]
Manatees have four rows of teeth. There are 6 to 8 high-crowned, open-rooted molars located along each side of the upper and lower jaw giving a total of 24 to 32 flat, rough-textured teeth. Eating gritty vegetation abrades the teeth, particularly the enamel crown, however, research indicates that the enamel structure in manatee molars is weak. To compensate for this, manatee teeth are continually replaced. When anterior molars wear down, they are shed. Posterior molars erupt at the back of the row and slowly move forward to replace these like enamel crowns on a conveyor belt. This process continues throughout the manatee's lifetime. The rate at which the teeth migrate forward depends on how quickly the anterior teeth abrade. Some studies indicate that the rate is about 1 cm/month although other studies indicate 0.1 cm/month.[19] This process of teeth being continually replaced is known as polyphyodonty and amongst other mammals, only occurs in elephants and kangaroos.
West Indian manatees prefer warmer temperatures and are known to congregate in shallow waters. They frequently migrate through brackish water estuaries to freshwater springs. They cannot survive below 15 �C (60 �F). Their natural source for warmth during winter is warm, spring-fed rivers.
The coast of the state of Georgia is usually the northernmost range of the West Indian manatees because their low metabolic rate does not protect them in cold water. Prolonged exposure to water temperatures below 20 �C (68 �F) can bring about "cold stress syndrome" and death.[22]
Florida manatees can move freely between salinity extremes.
Manatees have been seen as far north as Cape Cod, and in 1995[23] and again in 2006, one was seen in New York City[24] and Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay. A manatee was spotted in the Wolf River harbor near the Mississippi River in downtown Memphis in 2006, though it was later found dead 10 miles downriver in McKellar Lake.[25]
The West Indian manatee migrates into Florida rivers, such as the Crystal, the Homosassa, and the Chassahowitzka Rivers. The headsprings of these rivers maintain a 22 �C (72 �F) temperature all year. During November to March, about 400 West Indian manatees (according to the National Wildlife Refuge) congregate in the rivers in Citrus County, Florida.
During winter, manatees often congregate near the warm-water outflows of power plants along the coast of Florida instead of migrating south as they once did. Some conservationists are concerned that these manatees have become too reliant on these artificially warmed areas.[26] The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to find a new way to heat the water for manatees that are dependent on plants that have closed. The main water treatment plant in Guyana has four manatees that keep storage canals clear of weeds; there are also some in the ponds of the national park in Georgetown, Guyana.
Studies suggest Florida manatees must have some access to fresh water for proper regulation of water and salts within their bodies.
Accurate population estimates of the Florida manatee (T. manatus) are difficult. They have been called scientifically weak[27] due to widely varying counts from year to year, some areas showing increases, others decreases and little strong evidence of increases except in two areas. Manatee counts are highly variable without an accurate way to estimate numbers: In Florida in 1996, a winter survey found 2,639 manatees, in 1997, a January survey found 2,229, and a February survey found 1,706.[17] A statewide synoptic survey in January 2010 found 5,067 manatees living in Florida, which was a new record count.[28]
As of January 2016, the USFWS estimates the range-wide manatee population to be at least 13,000, with at least 6,300 in Florida.[29][30]
Population viability studies conducted in 1997 found that decreasing adult survival and eventual extinction is a probable future outcome for Florida manatees, without additional protection.[31] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed downgrading the manatee's status from endangered to threatened in January 2016 after over 40 years on the endangered species list.
Fossil remains of Florida manatee ancestors date back about 45 million years.[citation need
The freshwater Amazonian manatee (T. inunguis) inhabits the Amazon River and its tributaries, and never ventures into salt water.[33]
They are found in coastal marine and estuarine habitats, and in freshwater river systems along the west coast of Africa from the Senegal River south to the Cuanza River in Angola. They live as far upriver on the Niger River as Koulikoro in Mali, 2,000 km from the coast.[34]
Overall, predation does not present a significant threat to the survival of any manatee species. Wikipedia