Dugong Research :: Marine Mammals Biology Essays

Dugong Research Scientific name: Dugong Dugon Status: Vulnerable to extinction since 1982 (IUCN) Appendix I of CITES Taxonomy: Class Mammalia Order Sirenia Family Dugongidae Genus Dugong Species dugon Common Name dugong or sea cow Local Name duyong or baboy dagat Description: The dugong is one of the 24 species of marine mammals present in the Philippine waters. The dugong is the only representative of the order Sirenia to be found in the country. It is a truly unique aquatic animal, being the only herbivorous mammal whose preferred habitat is the sea. Like people and other mammals, the dugong is warm-blooded, has hairs, breathes air and the mother suckles their young. It has been noted that stories on mermaids are attributed to this unique animal due to its striking resemblance – fish-like tail, brownish smooth skin, mammary glands, woman-like genitalia and even its’ suckling baby. An adult dugong can grow to more than three meters in length and can weigh more than 400 kg. Newborns are a little over a meter, while mature animals measure at least 2.5 meters in length (Marsh et al. 1984). The dugong’s body is torpedo-shaped with whale-like flukes. The neck is short and indistinct. The flippers are small and short are used for manoeuvring and as a support during feeding or resting at the sea bottom. The color of an adult dugong is greyish bronze, which becomes lighter ventrally. Neonates and juveniles are lighter and are browner in color. The skin is tough, heavily scarred and usually colonized with barnacles in older animals. Short/stiff hair and fine/thin hair is sparsely distributed throughout the back of the animal. Hair is almost absent in the abdomen but are large, thick and abundant in the snout region. The upper lip forms the rostral disc, which is horseshoe in shape and is covered with a lot of thick and long vibrissae used for probing. A unique feature is around 25-35 mm thick (not as thick compared to other marine mammals, since protection from the cold is not a great problem for this warm and shallow water species).