Description
The shape of an African manatee's body is such that it is "full around the middle and narrowing to a paddle-shaped tail". It is grey in colour, with small, colourless hairs around its body. However, algae and other tiny organisms often grow on them, so they appear brown or greenish. Calves, however, are darker in colour when they are very young. In length, African manatees measure up to 4.5 m (14.6 ft), and they weigh about 360 kg (790 lb). African manatees are extremely slow, moving at between 4.8 and 8.0 km (3 and 5 mi) an hour, unless they fear predators, when they can travel at speeds of about 32 km (20 mi) an hour. The African manatee's large forelimbs, or flippers, are used to paddle and to bring food to the manatee's mouth, after which the vegetation is chewed by its strong molars, which are the only teeth it has. Each jaw has two vestigial incisors when the manatee is born, which it loses as it matures. If the African manatee's molars happen to fall out, new molars grow in their place. The manatee's flippers, which bear nails, are also used "to embrace and touch other manatees". The African manatee does not have any hindlimbs. By looking at the exterior of the African manatee, one would not be able to distinguish it from the American manatee, however it is different to the Amazonian manatee, which has characteristic white markings on its abdomen.
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