Manatees Make Good Mothers

Manatees are very attentive and doting mothers. They usually give birth to a single calf in a quiet and secluded area. Once the calf is born, the mother will stay very close, ensuring the calf can take its first breath on its own. The calf will vocalize immediately and the mother will call back. Scientists believe this is crucial to the pair's early bonding process. 

Manatee mothers have been seen floating perpendicularly and holding their calves against their bodies. In this pose they look very much like a human mother nursing her child. Calves begin to nurse a few hours after birth.

For manatees, the sense of touch is important and mother and calf will frequently swim pressed against each other. Manatees are generally solitary animals. If you see two manatees swimming together, chances are they are mother and child.

When the manatee calf is only a few weeks old, it will begin nibbling on plants. The calf will not be fully weaned until it is closer to a year old but will stay with its mother for a year of more after that. During this time, the mother is busy teaching her offspring which plants to eat, where to find safe resting areas and warm water refuges, as well as which migratory routes to follow.

The Slow-Moving Manatee

The manatee, weighing between 800 and 1,200 pounds and averaging 10 feet long, are fully-aquatic mammals that are also known as sea cows. There are three species of manatees: the Amazonia manatee, the West Indian manatee and the West African manatee.

Manatees are slow moving creatures, and propel their large bodies in the water by moving their flat, paddle-shaped tail up and down. The manatees closest relatives are the elephant (we can see the familiar resemeblence). Manatees have an easy lifestyle - half of their day is spent sleeping and most of the other half grazing for food.

Manatee Fossils

Manatee fossils have been found around the world dating back to 60 million years ago; here in the United States, manatee fossils have been found in Florida that date back 45 million years ago. 

A scientist holds fossilized manatee teeth found in a Florida riverbed.

Although the manatees we know today are sea-faring creatures, they evolved from four-legged land mammals.