Unfortunately, a Science Sunday’s talk about manatees at the Florida Museum of Natural History faced stiff competition from NCAA basketball. Science Sunday pretty much lost. But a few hardy souls chose sea cows over basketball and the show went on. There were plenty of interesting facts:
The manatee has an endless conveyer belt of teeth, dense bones to keep it submerged and uses its body hair to feel around.
I fished around on Google for information on the guys who presented the talk. I found an interesting site about manatees and their brains using UF veterinary neuroscientist Roger Reep’s name. It’s interesting how smooth the manatee brain is compared to other brains. Also, here is a Marine Mammal Health Program site from the University of Florida, and the Manatee Research Group page supervised by Reep.
