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dugong |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.06 sec. |
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dugong: see sirenian sirenian (sīrē`nēən) or sea cow, name for a large aquatic mammal of the order Sirenia. ..... Click the link for more information. . dugongLarge marine mammal (Dugong dugon, the sole living member of the family Dugongidae) that lives in shallow coastal waters from the Red Sea and eastern Africa to the Philippines, New Guinea, and northern Australia. It is 7–11 ft (2.2–3.4 m) long and usually weighs 500–800 lbs (230–360 kg). Its round, tapered body ends in a flipper with paired, pointed, horizontal branches. The forelimbs are rounded flippers; there are no hind limbs. The head blends into the body, and the snout is broad, square, and bristled. Dugongs live in pairs or in groups of up to six individuals. Once heavily hunted for their meat, hides, and oil, they are now protected throughout most of their range, though some populations remain in danger of extermination. See also manatee, sea cow. dugong a whalelike sirenian mammal, Dugong dugon, occurring in shallow tropical waters from E Africa to Australia: family Dugongidae How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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No one regards the external similarity of a mouse to a shrew, of a dugong to a whale, of a whale to a fish, as of any importance. He stole upon the dugong and joyed to stampede that silly timid creature by sudden ferocious onslaughts which he knew himself to be all sound and fury, but which tickled him and made him laugh with the consciousness of playing a successful joke. Owen states, proves indisputably that it was intimately related to the Gnawers, the order which, at the present day, includes most of the smallest quadrupeds: in many details it is allied to the Pachydermata: judging from the position of its eyes, ears, and nostrils, it was probably aquatic, like the Dugong and Manatee, to which it is also allied. |
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