Sirenians

In class last night, I mentioned the type of animals classified as "sirenia" or "sirenians". For those unfamiliar with them, an example is the lovely manatee, an aquatic mammal that can be found in coastal Florida. Their range extends north into Georgia and south to Brazil, and they can be found elsewhere in the Caribbean to the entire eastern coast of Mexico. In 2006, there was a report of a manatee seen in New York City and Rhode Island. Here is a video of manatees:

These are wonderful creatures, and good to know about. The other type of sirenian still in existence is the dugong, whose range is from the Red Sea and East Africa to Melanesia and from Hainan to Australia.