It is hard to guess what a Dugong weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Dugong (Dugong dugon) on average weights 295 kg (650.36 lbs).
The Dugong is from the family Dugongidae (genus: Dugong). It is usually born with about 23.48 kg (51.76 lbs). They can live for up to 70 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 2.55 meter (8′ 5″). Usually, Dugongs have 1 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The dugong (; Dugong dugon) is a medium-sized marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. The dugong is the only strictly herbivorous marine mammal.The dugong is the only sirenian in its range, which spans the waters of some 40 countries and territories throughout the Indo-West Pacific. The dugong is largely dependent on seagrass communities for subsistence and is thus restricted to the coastal habitats which support seagrass meadows, with the largest dugong concentrations typically occurring in wide, shallow, protected areas such as bays, mangrove channels, the waters of large inshore islands and inter-reefal waters. The northern waters of Australia between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay are believed to be the dugong’s contemporary stronghold.Like all modern sirenians, the dugong has a fusiform body with no dorsal fin or hind limbs. The forelimbs or flippers are paddle-like. The dugong is easily distinguished from the manatees by its fluked, dolphin-like tail, but also possesses a unique skull and teeth. Its snout is sharply downturned, an adaptation for feeding in benthic seagrass communities. The molar teeth are simple and peg-like unlike the more elaborate molar dentition of manatees.The dugong has been hunted for thousands of years for its meat and oil. Traditional hunting still has great cultural significance in several countries in its modern range, particularly northern Australia and the Pacific Islands. The dugong’s current distribution is fragmented, and many populations are believed to be close to extinction. The IUCN lists the dugong as a species vulnerable to extinction, while the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species limits or bans the trade of derived products. Despite being legally protected in many countries, the main causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and include fishing-related fatalities, habitat degradation and hunting. With its long lifespan of 70 years or more, and slow rate of reproduction, the dugong is especially vulnerable to extinction.
Animals of the same family as a Dugong
We found other animals of the Dugongidae family:
- Steller’s sea cow bringing 4000 kilos (8818.48 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Dugong
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Dugong dugon:
- Tamaraw with a weight of 252.7 kilos (557.11 lbs)
- Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin with a weight of 280 kilos (617.29 lbs)
- Bongo (antelope) with a weight of 269.5 kilos (594.15 lbs)
- Malayan tapir with a weight of 309.61 kilos (682.57 lbs)
- Burchell’s zebra with a weight of 278.08 kilos (613.06 lbs)
- Anoa with a weight of 256 kilos (564.38 lbs)
- Common bottlenose dolphin with a weight of 281.02 kilos (619.54 lbs)
- Hooded seal with a weight of 278.95 kilos (614.98 lbs)
- Red deer with a weight of 240.43 kilos (530.06 lbs)
- Mountain zebra with a weight of 279.73 kilos (616.7 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Dugong
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Dugong:
- Onager with a size of 2.25 meter (7′ 5″)
- Hooded seal with a size of 2.33 meter (7′ 8″)
- Gayal with a size of 2.7 meter (8′ 11″)
- Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin with a size of 2.37 meter (7′ 10″)
- Weddell seal with a size of 2.55 meter (8′ 5″)
- Giant eland with a size of 2.52 meter (8′ 4″)
- South American sea lion with a size of 2.11 meter (7′ 0″)
- Irrawaddy dolphin with a size of 2.5 meter (8′ 3″)
- Dwarf sperm whale with a size of 2.16 meter (7′ 1″)
- Mountain nyala with a size of 2.25 meter (7′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Dugong
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Dugong:
- Humpback whale
- Sooty mustached bat
- Kitti’s hog-nosed bat
- Siamang
- Peleng tarsier
- Ashy black titi
- Greater short-nosed fruit bat
- Prince Demidoff’s bushbaby
- Bush vlei rat
- Whiskered flying squirrel
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Dugong
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Dugong:
- Short-finned pilot whale with an average maximal age of 63 years
- Bryde’s whale with an average maximal age of 72 years
- Gray whale with an average maximal age of 77 years
- Chimpanzee with an average maximal age of 60 years
- Baikal seal with an average maximal age of 56 years
- Sperm whale with an average maximal age of 77 years
- Berardius with an average maximal age of 71 years
- Bornean orangutan with an average maximal age of 60 years
- Horse with an average maximal age of 62 years
- African bush elephant with an average maximal age of 80 years