Summary: On March 8, 2012, a group of Smithsonian scientists discovered that not only one species of Sea Cow exists in each world region. The fossil record on Sea Cows show that more than three species lived in the same world regions 50 million years ago causing us to know that the environment and food sources were much better 50 million years ago. Today there are only 4 species of Sea cows with 3 manatee species living in the coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean and one the Dugong in the Indo Pacific Ocean. Their diets are of sea grassing which means they are only herbivores. Nicholas Pyenson a manatee fossil expert asks questions on how manatees lived in the past on how they ate or how they bred considering their rich numbers in the past. To answer these questions, Jorge Velez-Juarbe, studied three manatee living places from separate time periods, from the late Oligocene (about 23-28 million years ago) in Florida, the early Miocene (about 16-23 million years ago) in India and the early Pliocene (about 3-5 million years ago) in Mexico. All three areas showed great fossil evidence that two or more species of Sea Cows had once coexisted there. By measuring the bodies and skulls of the fossils of Sea Cows from these places, they discovered that the Sea Cows never had to fight for food because there were a lot more varieties of sea grass 50 million years ago.
Impact: This discovery is huge. From learning on the past Sea Cows, we can now consider that Sea Cows and even other sea animals today can be conserved and kept from extinction. Not only are scientists like in this study discovering things, but trying to understand animals’ life styles to save species of important animals on the food chain from going extinct! Having scientist think in a new light like these Smithsonian scientists, could lead to a better economy or cures for cancers!
Critique: I have never liked fish and at least state this fact thirty times a day. But what is amazing about this study, is that scientists were able to find a lot of great information on something that is now way different from today (the population and life styles of Sea Cows). Today, knowing this information still doesn’t matter considering how low populations of animals are getting and how hard it is to help them. Such as how we know polar bears are going extinct and we can’t really do much about that from the change of climates of weather there. Does this mean that icees could also go extinct and if Sea Cows are going extinct, that the krabby patties will go extinct too?
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