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A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). In the 1597 Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the term West Indian initially described
- West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded...
- West Indian manatee
The West Indian manatee is the largest living member of the...
- West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island countries and 19 dependencies in three archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Lucayan Archipelago.
- Description
- Distribution and Habitat
- Behavior and Diet
- Reproduction
- Threats and Conservation
- External Links
The average West Indian manatee is about 2.7–3.5 m (8.9–11.5 ft) long and weighs 200–600 kg (440–1,320 lb), with females generally larger than males. The largest individual on record weighed 1,655 kg (3,649 lb) and measured 4.6 m (15 ft) long. Manatees are estimated to live 50 years or more in the wild, and one captive Florida manatee, Snooty, live...
The West Indian manatee inhabits mostly shallow coastal areas, including rivers and estuaries. Manatees can withstand large changes in salinity and are found in both freshwater and saltwater. Manatees' extremely low metabolic rate and lack of a thick layer of insulating body fatlimits them to locations with warm waters, including tropical regions. ...
Behavior
Because manatees evolved in habitats without natural predators, they lack predator avoidance behavior. The large size and low metabolic rates of manatees lends to their capacity for long and deep dives, as well as their relative lack of speed. Manatees are frequently solitary creatures, but they do aggregate at warm-water habitats during the winter and during the formation of breeding herds. In spite of their docile demeanor, due to their large size the West Indian manatee has nearly no natur...
Communication
Manatees have been shown to form large mating herds when males come across estrous females, indicating that males may be able to sense estrogen or other chemical indicators. Manatees can communicate information to each other through their vocalization patterns. Sex and age-related differences are apparent in the vocalization structure of common squeaks and screeches in adult males, adult females, and juveniles. This may be an indication of vocal individuality among manatees. An increase in ma...
Diet
Manatees are obligate herbivores that feed on over 60 species of aquatic plants in both fresh and salt water. Seagrass is a staple of the manatee diet, particularly in coastal areas. In addition, when the tide is high enough, they will also feed on grasses and leaves. Manatees typically graze for five or more hours per day, consuming anywhere from 4% to 10% of their body weight in wet vegetation per day, though the exact amount depends on their body size and activity level. Because manatees f...
Male manatees reach sexual maturity at 3–4 years of age, while females reach sexual maturity at 3–5 years of age. Manatees appear capable of breeding throughout their entire adult life, although most females first breed successfully at ages 7–9. Breeding occurs in ephemeral mating herds, where several males aggregate around an estrous female and co...
The West Indian manatee has been included on the U.S. Endangered Species List since the 1970s. In October 2007, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessed the West Indian manatee as vulnerable, and both the Florida and Antillean subspecies as endangered. The full species and both subspecies qualified for their respective cla...
ARKive – images and movies of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus)Animal Diversity Website: Trichechus manatus"Manatee" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.View the triMan1 genome assembly in the UCSC Genome Browser.Aug 23, 2024 · West Indies, crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north.
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island countries and 19 dependencies in three archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Lucayan Archipelago. [5]
Western India is a region of the Republic of India, it includes the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, Goa and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
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May 23, 2021 · Learn about the West Indies, a chain of islands in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, divided into three groups: the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the Lesser Antilles. Explore their geography, history, culture, and biodiversity with WorldAtlas.
