Chordata · chordates

Dugong

Dugong dugon

Dugongidae · dugongsIUCN: Vulnerable
Dugong
Photo: Gejuni · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons · resized

A seagrass-grazing sea cow with a whale-like tail fluke.

Fun factIt may have inspired old sailors' stories of mermaids.

Waters
Indo-Pacific
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries
Diet
Seagrass
Size
Up to 3 m

Classification

Chordata › Mammalia › Sirenia › Dugongidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Deuterostomia deuterostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening becomes the anus and the mouth forms second
    • Includes echinoderms and chordates
  4. Phylum Chordata chordates
    • At some stage of life: a stiffening rod along the back (notochord)
    • A hollow nerve cord along the back (dorsal)
    • Slits in the throat (pharyngeal slits) and a tail past the anus
  5. Subphylum Vertebrata vertebrates
    • A skull (cranium) protecting a brain
    • Backbone or similar support around the nerve cord
    • Includes fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals
  6. Infraphylum Gnathostomata jawed vertebrates
    • Jawed vertebrates: jaws formed from gill arches
    • Paired fins or limbs
    • Includes all fishes except hagfish and lampreys, plus all tetrapods
  7. Superclass Osteichthyes bony vertebrates
    • Bony vertebrates: skeleton made largely of bone
    • Most have a lung or swim bladder
    • Includes ray-finned and lobe-finned fishes and all tetrapods
  8. Clade Sarcopterygii lobe-finned vertebrates
    • Lobe-finned: fleshy fins with bones like those of limbs
    • Includes coelacanths, lungfishes, and all tetrapods
  9. Clade Tetrapoda four-limbed vertebrates
    • Four limbs with fingers and toes (or descended from animals that had them)
    • Breathe air with lungs
  10. Class Mammalia mammals
    • Mammals: hair at some stage of life
    • Females nurse their young with milk (mammary glands)
    • Three small bones in the middle ear
  11. Superorder Afrotheria elephants, manatees & kin
    • Placental mammals that evolved in Africa: elephants, manatees, aardvarks, and relatives
  12. Order Sirenia sea cows
    • Sea cows: plant-eating marine mammals with paddle flippers and no back legs
    • Heavy, dense bones help them stay submerged
  13. Family Dugongidae dugongs
    • Dugongs: fluked, whale-like tail
  14. Genus Dugong
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  15. Species Dugong dugon Dugong

Closest relatives in the guide