Vibrissae growth rate of captive Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus Linnaeus, 1758).

Garcés‐Cuartas, Natalia; Niño‐Torres, Carlos Alberto; Castelblanco‐Martínez, Delma Nataly

The Antillean manatee ( I Trichechus manatus manatus i ) is a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, one of the extant species of the order Sirenia, whose closest living relatives include proboscideans and hyraxes (Kuntner, May Collado & Agnarsson, [21]). Most marine mammals exhibit a restricted distribution of vibrissae: pinnipeds and mysticete cetaceans have vibrissae on their heads only (Ling, [24]), whereas in most odontocete cetaceans, hair is present only as prenatal vibrissae that atrophy, resulting in vibrissal crypts that are electroreceptive in some taxa (Czech-Damal, Dehnhardt, Manger & Hanke, [5]; Czech-Damal et al., [6]; Ling, [24]). GLO:KQE/01jan20:mms12638-fig-0002.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): Vibrissae of Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) measured to determine vibrissae growth rate (VGR). gl Vibrissae growth rate has been determined in other marine mammals, e.g., pinnipeds and sea otters (Table); however, pinnipeds molt their hair (McHuron et al., [29]) and thus exhibit seasonal hair growth, which is not the case for sirenians (Berta, Sumich & Kovacs, [2]).

VON Linne, Carl, 1707-1778; WHISKERS; HAIR growth; MANATEES; ZOOLOGY; BOTANY

Marine Mammal Science, 2020, Vol 36, Issue 1, p344

0824-0469

Academic Journal

10.1111/mms.12638