Dwarf Manatee?

Dwarf Manatee?
15-09-2008

I was looking info in the internet about the Giant Peccary, and I found out that there may be Dwarf Manatees in South America. I had never heard of that before, do any of you guys have any more info about this?

Here is the link where I read about it: Too Much Information: Mermaids of the Amazon

16-09-2008

Here is the formal description

Marc van Roosmalen, New Species, Dwarf Manatee, Amazon Association for the Preservation of Nature

16-09-2008

Thanks for the link bongorob!

16-09-2008

Hey guys, I'm the author of the blog post you originally linked too.

I just wanted to add that the discoverer, Van Roosmalen, believes the dwarf manatee to be a new species (which he called trichechus bernhardi) due to the the differences cited in the article (size, diet, habitat), but that the dwarf manatee has not been confirmed as a seperate species and some scientists believe it might just be a variant of the trichechus ingunius, the other manatee species found in the Amazon.

I don't think I made that clear when I wrote the post.

Anyway, thanks for the link,
Meeg

16-09-2008

Hello Meeg and welcome to zoobeat!

I don't think an author to a blog I've linked has ever replied here on Zoobeat. Especially that fast.

Anyways...I hope it does become a seperate species. At first I thought it was a baby, but then read more about it and was surprised that they think it may be a new specie.

16-09-2008

How fascinating! I have to let my mom know about them, she loves manatees.

16-09-2008

My mom also loves manatees, so when I told her she said that they are the cuttest of all the manatees.