Fort Myers in Lee County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Relatives and Relationships

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, October 16, 2015

1. Relatives and Relationships Marker

Inscription. The manatee’s closest living relative is the elephant. They have a number of features in common. Manatees have a flexible prehensile lip that functions in a similar way to the trunk of an elephant. It grabs vegetation and places it in the animal’s mouth. Can you find other similarities below?

Similarities
Manatees
• Herbivore: plant eaters
• Nurse calf from behind flippers
• Mother cares for calf for two years
• Thick hide with hair covering body
• Toenails on flippers

Elephants:
• Herbivore: plant eaters
• Nurse calf from behind front legs
• Mother cares for calf for three to five years
• Thick hide with hair covering body
• Toenails on toes

Pictures
Prehensile Lip (Manatee)
Prehensile Trunk (Elephant)
Toenails (Manatee)
Toenails (Elephant)
Nursing (Manatee)
Nursing (elephant)

Manatee Young
Female manatees reach sexual maturity at age 3 but will not breed successfully until 6 to 10 years of age. Males are sexually mature at the age of two. Manatee mating herds are made up of sexually mature males and females. Within any given mating herd of manatees, there will be more males

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than females. Many males will court one female manatee within a breeding herd from a week to one month. Only persistent males will be successful.

Reproductive Rates
Manatees reproduce very slowly. Female carry the young up to 13 months before giving birth and usually produce a single calf with each pregnancy. Although calving occurs year round, there is generally a two to five-year span before females reproduce again.

Did you know?
Calves will remain dependent on their mothers for up to two years. Young manatee calves nurse from their mothers under water and are able to begin nibbling on aquatic vegetation a few weeks after birth.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Animals • Environment.

Location. 26° 41.59′ N, 81° 46.666′ W. Marker is in Fort Myers, Florida, in Lee County. It is on Palm Beach Boulevard. Marker is located inside park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 10901 Palm Beach blvd, Fort Myers FL 33905, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

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It is also in the American South

and on the Gulf Coast.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Tracking Manatees (here, next to this marker); Manatee Young (here, next to this marker); Pine Flatwoods Habitat (here, next to this marker); Scrub Oak Habitat (here, next to this marker); Responsible Fishing (here, next to this marker); Boating with Wildlife (here, next to this marker); Mangroves - Trees of the Sea (here, next to this marker); Munching Manatees (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fort Myers.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 30, 2017. It was originally submitted on August 7, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 364 times since then and 46 times this year. Photo 1. submitted on August 7, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.