 the west indian manatee (trichechus manatus) or "sea cow" is a manatee, and the largest surviving member of the aquatic mammal order sirenia (which also includes the dugong and the extinct steller's sea cow). the west indian manatee is a species distinct from the amazonian manatee (t. inunguis) and the african manatee (t. senegalensis). based on genetic and morphological studies, the west indian manatee is divided into two subspecies, the florida manatee (t. m. latirostris) and the antillean or caribbean manatee (t. m. manatus). however, recent genetic (mtdna) research suggests that the west indian manatee actually consists of three groups, which are more or less geographically distributed as: (1) florida and the greater antilles; (2) mexico, central america and northern south america; and (3) northeastern south america.{{cite journal | author = garcia-rodriguez, b. w. bowen, d. domning, a. a. mignucci-giannoni, m. marmontel, r. a. montoya-ospina, b. moreales-vela, m. rudin, r. k. bonde, and p. m. mcguire | year = 1998 | title = phylogeography of the west indian manatee (trichechusmanatus): how many populations and how many taxa? | journal = molecular ecology |
Animals_described_in_1758 EDGE_species IUCN_Red_List_vulnerable_species Indicator_species_of_North_America Mammals_of_Anguilla Mammals_of_Belize Mammals_of_Colombia Mammals_of_Guatemala Mammals_of_Guyana Mammals_of_Puerto_Rico Mammals_of_Trinidad_and_Tobago Mammals_of_the_Caribbean Mammals_of_the_United_States Megafauna Sirenians