It is hard to guess what a West Indian manatee weights. But we have the answer:
An adult West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) on average weights 467.16 kg (1029.91 lbs).
The West Indian manatee is from the family Trichechidae (genus: Trichechus). It is usually born with about 29.62 kg (65.3 lbs). They can live for up to 30 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 3.5 meter (11′ 6″). Usually, West Indian manatees 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 West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) or “sea cow”, also known as North American manatee, is the largest surviving member of the aquatic mammal order Sirenia (which also includes the dugong and the extinct Steller’s sea cow). It is further divided into two subspecies, the Florida manatee (T. m. latirostris) and the Antillean or Caribbean manatee (T. m. manatus), based on genetic and morphological studies. The Florida subspecies is primarily found along the coasts of Florida, but its range extends as far west as Texas and as far north as Massachusetts. The Antillean subspecies has a sparse distribution throughout the Caribbean, ranging as far north as Mexico and as far south as Brazil.Manatees are obligate herbivores, have developed vocal communication abilities, and are covered in highly sensitive vibrissae that are used for feeding and navigation. In breeding season, several males form mating herds around an individual female; on average, one calf is born to a female manatee every two to three years.The West Indian manatee was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in the 1970’s, when there were only several hundred left, and the decades since have witnessed significant efforts by federal, state, private, and nonprofit organizations to protect these species from natural and human-induced threats, particularly collisions with watercraft. On March 30, 2017, the US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced the federal reclassification of the West Indian manatee from endangered to threatened, citing a substantial increase in the total population.
Animals of the same family as a West Indian manatee
We found other animals of the Trichechidae family:
- African manatee bringing 454 kilos (1000.9 lbs) to the scale
- Amazonian manatee bringing 418 kilos (921.53 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a West Indian manatee
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Trichechus manatus:
- Pygmy sperm whale with a weight of 431.25 kilos (950.74 lbs)
- Moose with a weight of 471.45 kilos (1039.37 lbs)
- Moose with a weight of 541.46 kilos (1193.71 lbs)
- African manatee with a weight of 454 kilos (1000.9 lbs)
- Plains zebra with a weight of 400 kilos (881.85 lbs)
- Domestic yak with a weight of 500 kilos (1102.31 lbs)
- Amazonian manatee with a weight of 418 kilos (921.53 lbs)
- Grévy’s zebra with a weight of 405.5 kilos (893.97 lbs)
- Dromedary with a weight of 490.36 kilos (1081.06 lbs)
- Bactrian camel with a weight of 550.76 kilos (1214.22 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a West Indian manatee
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as West Indian manatee:
- White-beaked dolphin with a size of 3.05 meter (10′ 1″)
- Pygmy beaked whale with a size of 3.72 meter (12′ 3″)
- Black rhinoceros with a size of 2.85 meter (9′ 5″)
- Indian rhinoceros with a size of 3.74 meter (12′ 4″)
- American bison with a size of 2.85 meter (9′ 5″)
- Walrus with a size of 2.88 meter (9′ 6″)
- African manatee with a size of 3.5 meter (11′ 6″)
- Northern giraffe with a size of 4.18 meter (13′ 9″)
- Javan rhinoceros with a size of 3.1 meter (10′ 3″)
- Leopard seal with a size of 3.05 meter (10′ 0″)
Animals with the same litter size as a West Indian manatee
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a West Indian manatee:
- Hartebeest
- Philippine tarsier
- Lesser Asiatic yellow bat
- Greater Asiatic yellow bat
- Maned sloth
- Gray-backed sportive lemur
- Papuan bandicoot
- Tapeti
- Rio Mayo titi
- Wall-roosting mouse-eared bat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a West Indian manatee
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a West Indian manatee:
- Daubenton’s bat with an average maximal age of 28 years
- European wildcat with an average maximal age of 31 years
- Bald uakari with an average maximal age of 27 years
- Toque macaque with an average maximal age of 35 years
- Indian flying fox with an average maximal age of 31.33 years
- South Asian river dolphin with an average maximal age of 28 years
- De Brazza’s monkey with an average maximal age of 26.25 years
- Gelada with an average maximal age of 28 years
- Mantled guereza with an average maximal age of 24.5 years
- Brown long-eared bat with an average maximal age of 30 years