Reproucdtion Process and Parental Care: Internal and External Anatomy With Functions
Reproucdtion Process and Parental Care: Internal and External Anatomy With Functions
Reproucdtion Process and Parental Care: Internal and External Anatomy With Functions
up to 3m (9.8 feet) in length and they weight between 250 and 300
kgs (551-661 kgs).
*They have a large body with thick,smooth skin,.They are cream
coloured at birth but develop darkens dorsally and laterally to
brownish /grey or dark grey coloured as they get older.Their under
side is slightly paler and they have a sparse covering of hair over
their body.
*Their head is rounded with small eyes and they have a large
snout,their upper lip is well developed and its forms a U-SHAPED
pad that has two ridges with large,STIFF BRISTLES.
*Dugongs have excellent hearing but not very good eyesight and
sometimes adult males and older females have small TUSKS.
*Dugongs,like other mammals,must surface to breath,but they
cannot hold their breath for very long.Their Nostril are situated on
the top of their snout and they are able to close them when they go
underwater.
*Dugongs brain weighs a maximum of 300 g(11 oz),about 0.1% of
the animals body weight.
*They have paddle-like front flippers which measure between 35 and
45 cms (13.8-17.7 inches) in length and they have a flucked tail
which propels thenm through the water when they move its up and
down.
ECONOMIC USES
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE FOR
HUMANS:POSITIVE
*Dugongs have historically provided easy targets for
hunters,who killed them for their meat oil,skin and bones.
*Dugongs served not only as a source of food,but their
tusks were used as sword handles.
CONSERVATION
*The dugong is listed as VULNERABLE on the IUCN
RED LIST.They are hunted for their
meat,oil,skin,bones and teeth.They are also
threathened by entanglement in fishing gear and
coastal pollution.
*Dugong population sizes are not well known,since
dugongs are long-lived animals with a low
reproduction rate,according to the UNITED
NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP) even
a slight reduction in adult survivorship as a result
of habitats loss,disease,hunting or incidental
drowning in nets,can result in a chronic decline.