CHAPTER XX.
THE DUGONG, MANATEES, WHALES, PORPOISES, AND DOLPHINS.
BY F. G. AFLALO, F.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, Linnæus had classed them with the Walrus, Cuvier with 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 Dugong is the representative of the first, and the two Manatees belong to the other.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
DUGONG.