By Christina Coppersmith

There are five different groups of animals with vertebrates These classifications are Mammals Fish Reptiles Birds Amphibians

Manatees have certain characteristics that make them mammals. Here are some of the attributes: Manatees are warm-blooded. They have hair or fur. They give birth to live young. They feed their babies with mother’s milk. They have lungs.

A Manatee’s Appearance A manatee has a round, small head and a short neck. It has a big snout which forms its mouth and nose. It has two flippers instead of two legs. Did you know that manatees have three or four fingernails on each flipper. The manatee is about as big as a car.

The Manatee’s Habitat Manatees live in North America and some live in West Indian. Manatees live mainly in Florida. These manatees are called Florida manatees. They spend their entire lives in the warm, shallow waters along the coast of Florida. They can live in salt water, fresh water, or brackish water. Brackish water is half salt and half fresh water.

The Manatee’s Diet Manatees are herbivores. They are animals who eat mostly plants. They eat up to 100 pounds of plants every day. A manatee uses its flippers to hold plants as it eats. Manatees spend six or seven hours every day eating water plants. They graze like cows and people sometimes call them “sea cows”.

Predators or Dangers Most animals leave the manatee alone because it is too big. The only thing that a manatee has to worry about is a boat. Often a speeding boat will knock a manatee out. The boats spinning propeller may cut the manatee.

A Diagram of Manatees

Interesting Facts Manatee cows take good care of their calves. If a calf loses its mother another cow may adopt the calf. At birth a calf is three to four feet long. They weight 60 to 70 pounds when they are first born. That is bigger than most first graders.

Thank you for coming to learn about my project on the manatee. I hope you learned a lot. Reference: /manatee/

By Christina Coppersmith