Manatees feed at the bottom of their forelimbs. It is a precious marine mammal. When breastfeeding, it will hold its young with its forelimbs and expose its head and chest to the water.

Although it is called a manatee, its shape is similar to that of a whale. It stores a lot of fat under its skin and can keep its body temperature even in low-temperature seawater. In order to adapt to life in water, manatees' forelimbs have degenerated into paddle-like flippers.

Even so, the flippers still have undifferentiated hooves at the front end, which is very close to ungulates, which is the main reason why they are called manatees. Manatees mainly live in shallow seas, estuaries and other places, and a few will inhabit rivers.

Are manatees mermaids?

Due to the lactation characteristics of manatees, people imagine mermaids as a kind of creatures according to them, but in fact, mermaids do not exist. In addition to manatees, dugongs, both manatees, also belong to the so-called mermaid, and their body shapes and living habits are very similar.

The difference between manatees and dugong:

Although both belong to manatees, manatees and dugongs are two completely different animals. Manatees have larger heads and rounder tails, while dugongs have smaller heads and crescent-shaped tails.

Manatees live in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean and belong to the animals of the Western Hemisphere, while dugong lives in the Old Hemisphere. Dugong can often be seen in coastal areas, such as Guangdong, Guangxi and southern Taiwan Province Province.