Editing Manatee (section)

==Behavior==
[[File:Endangered Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus) (7636816484).jpg|thumb|Endangered Florida manatee (''Trichechus manatus'')]]
Apart from mothers with their young, or males following a receptive female, manatees are generally solitary animals.<ref name=EoM>{{cite book|editor= Macdonald, D.|author= Best, Robin|year= 1984|title= The Encyclopedia of Mammals|publisher= Facts on File|location= New York|pages= [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0/page/292 292–298]|isbn= 0-87196-871-1|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0/page/292}}</ref> 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 {{convert|1|-|2|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The [[Florida]] subspecies (''T. m. latirostris'') has been known to live up to 60 years.

===Locomotion===
Generally, manatees swim at about {{convert|5|to|8|km/h|mph|sigfig=1|abbr=on}}. However, they have been known to swim at up to {{convert|30|km/h|mph|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} in short bursts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.savethemanatee.org/faqbehavior.htm|title=Manatee FAQ: Behavior|website=www.savethemanatee.org|access-date=2016-09-15|archive-date=2016-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919033414/http://www.savethemanatee.org/faqbehavior.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Intelligence and learning===
[[File:Manatee attitudes.jpg|thumb|right|Manatee postures in captivity]]
Manatees are capable of understanding discrimination tasks and show signs of complex [[Learning#Associative learning|associative learning]]. They also have good [[long-term memory]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1 = Gerstein|first1 = E. R.|year = 1994|title = The manatee mind: Discrimination training for sensory perception testing of West Indian manatees (''Trichechus manatus'')| journal = Marine Mammals|volume = 1|pages = 10–21}}</ref> They demonstrate discrimination and task-learning abilities similar to [[dolphin]]s and [[pinniped]]s in [[Acoustics|acoustic]] and visual studies.<ref name=GulDie>(Marine Mammal Medicine, 2001, Leslie Dierauf & Frances Gulland, CRC Press)</ref> Social interactions between manatees are highly complex and intricate, which may indicate higher intelligence than previously thought, although they remain poorly understood by science.<ref name="HenautCharlesDelfour2022">{{cite journal |last1=Henaut |first1=Yann |last2=Charles |first2=Aviva |last3=Delfour |first3=Fabienne |date=24 August 2022 |title=Cognition of the manatee: past research and future developments |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-022-01676-8 |journal=[[Animal Cognition]] |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=1049–1058 |doi=10.1007/s10071-022-01676-8 |pmid=36002602 |s2cid=251808935 |access-date=29 October 2022 |archive-date=30 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030025414/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-022-01676-8 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Reproduction===
Manatees typically breed once every two years; generally only a single calf is born. [[Gestation]] lasts about 12 months and to [[weaning|wean]] the calf takes a further 12 to 18 months,<ref name=EoM /> although females may have more than one [[estrous cycle]] per year.<ref name="Ripple">{{cite book|author=Jeff Ripple|title=Manatees and Dugongs of the World|year=1999|url=https://archive.org/details/manateesdugongso0000ripp|url-access=registration|quote=estrous.|publisher=Voyageur Press|isbn=978-1-61060-443-7}}</ref>

===Communication===
Manatees emit a wide range of sounds used in communication, especially between cows and their calves.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=O'Shea|first1=Thomas J.|last2=Lynn B. Poché|first2=Jr.|date=2006|title=Aspects of Underwater Sound Communication in Florida Manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris)|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|volume=87|issue=6|pages=1061–1071|doi=10.1644/06-MAMM-A-066R1.1|jstor=4126883|s2cid=42302073|issn=0022-2372|doi-access=free}}</ref> Their ears are large internally but the external openings are small, and they are located four inches behind each eye.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.birdsunderwater.com/manatees-hearing/|title=Manatee Ears Cause for Alarm? {{!}} Bird's Underwater|date=2017-08-01|website=Birds Underwater|access-date=2017-10-06|language=en-US|archive-date=2017-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007022420/https://www.birdsunderwater.com/manatees-hearing/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/manatee/communication|title=Animal Info Book: Manatee|website=Seaworld Parks & Entertainment|access-date=2016-08-07|archive-date=2017-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007021906/https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/manatee/communication|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Diet===
Manatees are [[herbivory|herbivores]] and eat over 60 different freshwater (e.g., floating hyacinth, [[Pontederia|pickerel weed]], [[Alternanthera philoxeroides|alligator weed]], [[Pistia|water lettuce]], [[hydrilla]], water celery, [[Chara (alga)|musk grass]], [[mangrove]] leaves) and saltwater plants (e.g., sea grasses, [[Halodule wrightii|shoal grass]], [[Syringodium filiforme|manatee grass]], [[seagrass|turtle grass]], [[Ruppia|widgeon grass]], sea clover, and marine algae).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lefebvre|first1=Lynn W.|last2=Provancha|first2=Jane A.|last3=Slone|first3=Daniel H.|last4=Kenworthy|first4=W. Judson|date=2017|title=Manatee grazing impacts on a mixed species seagrass bed|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24898254|journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series|volume=564|pages=29–45|doi=10.3354/meps11986|jstor=24898254|bibcode=2017MEPS..564...29L|issn=0171-8630|access-date=2021-06-16|archive-date=2024-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127183711/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24898254|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Domning|first=Daryl P.|date=1981|title=Sea Cows and Sea Grasses|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2400692|journal=Paleobiology|volume=7|issue=4|pages=417–420|doi=10.1017/S009483730002546X|jstor=2400692|bibcode=1981Pbio....7..417D|s2cid=88809167|issn=0094-8373|access-date=2021-06-16|archive-date=2024-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127183710/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2400692|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Using their divided upper lip, an adult manatee will commonly eat up to 10%–15% of their body weight (about 50&nbsp;kg) per day. Consuming such an amount requires the manatee to graze for up to seven hours a day.<ref name="Journey North">{{cite web|url=http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/manatee/AdaptationsMouth.html|title=Manatee|publisher=Journey North|year=2003|access-date=April 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429180435/http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/manatee/AdaptationsMouth.html|archive-date=April 29, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> To be able to cope with the high levels of cellulose in their plant based diet, manatees utilize hindgut fermentation to help with the digestion process.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Marine Mammal Physiology|last=Castellini and Mellish|first=Michael and Jo-Ann|publisher=CRC Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1-4822-4267-6|location=Boca Raton, Florida|pages=101}}</ref> Manatees have been known to eat small numbers of fish from nets.<ref name="powell">{{cite journal| last = Powell| first = James| title = Evidence for carnivory in manatee (''Trichechus manatus'')| journal =Journal of Mammalogy| volume = 59| issue = 2|page = 442|year = 1978| doi = 10.2307/1379938| jstor = 1379938}}</ref>

===Feeding behavior===
[[File:Manatee plate.jpg|thumbnail|Manatee plate]]
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 [[Prehensility|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.<ref name="Journey North" />

===Dentition===
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, similarly to [[elephant]]s. 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&nbsp;cm/month although other studies indicate 0.1&nbsp;cm/month.<ref name="Journey North" />