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Sirenia

File:Sirenia_distribution.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Sirenia

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Also known as sea cow, sirenian, sea cows, sirenians

The Sirenia ( ), commonly referred to as sea cows or sirenians, are an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, marine wetlands, and coastal marine waters. The extant Sirenia comprise two distinct families: Dugongidae (the dugong and the now extinct Steller's sea cow) and Trichechidae (manatees, namely the Amazonian manatee, West Indian manatee, and West African manatee) with a total of three species.

OverviewAI-generated

Sirenia is an order of mammals within the class Mammalia, phylum Chordata, and kingdom Animalia. The taxon was established by Illiger in 1811 and is classified under the parent taxa Placentalia, mammal, and Tethytheria. Common names for this group include sea cows, sjøkyr, and morske krave. The name is derived from the siren. Members of this order inhabit marine, brackish, and freshwater environments.

The temporal range of Sirenia began in the Ypresian, approximately 56 million years ago. The status of the order is accepted under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Records of Sirenia are held by institutions including USNM, SDNHM, NHMUK, and UCMP, with occurrences documented in the United States, Mexico, and Libya. Scientific literature on the subject includes 524 PubMed entries, and the taxon is referenced by 513 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 37 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, Gbif Occ, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

sea cows

Mammalia

CLASS

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassMammalia
  4. OrderSirenia
Habitatmarine, brackish, freshwater
Observations recorded52,732,182

Die Seekühe (Sirenia) sind eine Ordnung pflanzenfressender Säugetiere mit heute noch vier lebenden Arten. Sie werden zur Überordnung der Afrotheria gezählt; unter den heute noch lebenden Tieren sind die Elefanten ihre nächsten Verwandten. Neben den Walen und den Robben sind Seekühe das dritte größere Taxon meeresbewohnender Säugetiere (Meeressäuger). Anders als Robben haben sie keine geeigneten Gliedmaßen, um sich an Land zu bewegen. Im Gegensatz zu den Walen halten sich Seekühe stets in Küstennähe oder gar im Süßwasser und oft in sehr flachem Wasser auf. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Merkmale 1.1 Äußere Anatomie 1.2 Bau des Skeletts 1.3 Innere Anatomie 2 Verbreitung und Lebensraum 3 Lebensweise 4 Ernährung 5 Fortpflanzung und Entwicklung 6 Stammesgeschichte 7 Systematik 8 Gefährdung und Schutz 9 Seekühe in Mythologie, Kunst und Literatur 10 Film 11 Einzelnachweise 12 Literatur 13 Weblinks Merkmale Äußere Anatomie Dugong Seekühe sind massige Tiere mit einem zylindrischen Körper. Die rezenten Arten erreichen Körperlängen von 2,50 bis vier Metern, Stellers Seekuh (Hydrodamalis gigas), die im 18. Jahrhundert innerhalb von nur 27 Jahren nach ihrer Entdeckung ausgerottet wurde, wurde sogar bis 8

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
507
With media
28
Collections
USNM, SDNHM, NHMUK, UCMP
Recorded in
United States, Mexico, Libya
iDigBio →

Research

524 papers

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Instance of
taxon
Parent taxon
Tethytheria
Named after
siren
Image
FL fig04.jpg
Show 10 more facts
taxon rank
order
Commons category
Sirenia
taxon name
Sirenia
Code of nomenclature
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
topic's main category
Category:Sirenians
MCN code
0106.12.00
start time
55800000-0
taxon common name
morske krave
on focus list of Wikimedia project
Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
temporal range start
Ypresian
Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~35 min read

Encyclopedic overview

20 sections
Contents
  • Taxonomy
  • Etymology
  • Classification
  • Sirenia families
  • Evolution
  • Description
  • Adaptations
  • Diet
  • Feeding behavior
  • Important anatomy in feeding
  • Food handling
  • Cultivation grazing
  • Reproduction
  • Manatees in captivity
  • Diet in captivity
  • Threats and conservation
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

The Sirenia ( ), commonly referred to as sea cows or sirenians, are an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, marine wetlands, and coastal marine waters. The extant Sirenia comprise two distinct families: Dugongidae (the dugong and the now extinct Steller's sea cow) and Trichechidae (manatees, namely the Amazonian manatee, West Indian manatee, and West African manatee) with a total of three species.

The Protosirenidae (Eocene sirenians) and Prorastomidae (terrestrial sirenians) families are extinct. Sirenians are classified in the clade Paenungulata, alongside the elephants and the hyraxes, and evolved in the Eocene 50 million years ago (mya). The Dugongidae diverged from the Trichechidae in the late Eocene or early Oligocene (30–35 mya).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Sirenia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (56)

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