African Manatee - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The African manatee was officially declared a species under the Trichechus senegalensis taxon in 1795 by the naturalist, Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link. No subspecies of this taxon are known, but unreliable claims have been made that there are morphological disparities between coastal manatee populations and isolated inland populations. After more research, no genetic evidence supports these claims and form any subspecies. The African manatee falls under the Trichechus genus with only two other species, the Amazonian manatee and the West Indian manatee, which are also sirenians.