Let's talk about almost mythical creatures that still live today in sea ​​depths planet Earth. We will talk about mysterious animals belonging to Siren squad . The very name “siren” evokes in most people an association with the mythological creatures of the ancient world - beautiful water maidens - half-fish, who with their magnificent appearance and singing lured sailors and then mercilessly killed them. Who are sirens really, what do they look like, and do they exist in nature at all, you ask. Let's take a closer look Siren squad and its representatives.

Siren Squad: Habitat

Sirens really exist, but they are not at all beautiful maidens - half-humans, half-fish. This marine mammals who are fully adapted to life in sea ​​water. Sirens lat. Sirenia) is an order of marine herbivorous mammals that belong to the class Mammals, the infraclass Placentals and the superorder Afrotheria. These animals live exclusively in water (mostly sea water) and never go onto land.

Animals related to Siren squad , are quite large in size, but unlike cetaceans they prefer to stay in shallow water and sometimes enter freshwater rivers and lakes connected to them. They live in hot tropical and subtropical climate. Africa is considered the ancestral home of these animals; scientists consider hyraxes and proboscideans to be their closest relatives.

Amazonian manatees

Origin

Biologists suggest that the ancestors of animals belonging to Siren squad , are land herbivores mammals, which lived in shallow water areas and lived during the Eocene period, according to numerous fossil remains found. The age of ancient artifacts - the fossilized remains of the ancestors of the sirens - is about 50 million years old. It is also assumed among scientists that in the process of evolution the hind limbs of these aquatic mammals disappeared quite quickly, and a horizontal fin formed in their place.

Dugong and stickfish

It is believed that three families formed during the Eocene period Siren squad: Prorastomidae, Protosirenidae and Dugongidae (Dugongidae), and Trichechidae (Manatees) appeared later, only in the Miocene. So as you see, Siren squad a very ancient order of mammals, among all that currently exist on our planet. Two families Prorastomidae and Protosirenidae from the order in question are completely extinct and do not currently exist.

Classification

In modern worldSiren squad represented by two families:

• the first family Dugongidae (lat. Dugongidae) consisting of a single species - dugong;

• the second family Manatees (lat. Trichechidae), consisting of four species:

— African manatee (lat. Trichechus senegalensis);

— American manatee (lat. Trichechus manatus);

— Amazonian manatee (lat. Trichechus inunguis);

— Dwarf manatee (lat. Trichechus bernhardi).

Manatees

Appearance

All animals related to squad Sirens They have a massive and very awkward cylindrical body. The forelimbs have changed greatly in the process of evolution and turned into fins, shaped like the fins of cetaceans. The hind limbs have completely disappeared. The tail of sirens also has the shape of a fin. The entire body of these ancient animals is covered with very thick, completely hairless skin, forming voluminous folds.

The muzzle is elongated and has a somewhat “chopped-off” appearance, with decorations in the form of stiff whiskers. It must be said that these mustaches serve the sirens not so much as decoration, but as the main organs of touch.

Interestingly, the volume of the lungs in these animals can be adjusted in each half independently of each other; this determines the change in the center of gravity, which the sirens can change at will and control the stability of their body.

The number of teeth in these aquatic mammals varies, and the palate and relatively short, thick tongue are covered with a calloused, somewhat keratinized layer, which likely facilitates the consumption of tough aquatic plants.

Manatees

Lifestyle

It should be noted that animals Siren squad are not herd animals. They either live alone or try to stay in small groups, only when they are in places with plenty of food. It is sometimes noted that after the mating season, these animals remain in pairs for many years, and sometimes they become devoted to each other until the end of their lives.

American manatees

The diet of these aquatic mammals consists exclusively of various aquatic plants, and a very small number of small crabs, which are probably caught by chance. Like all other aquatic mammals, animals belonging to Siren squad , despite their clumsiness, they are very mobile and fast in the water, but they try to avoid great depths.

With this short story, perhaps, we will finish the article dedicated to the amazing aquatic mammals that make up Siren squad . In the future, we will continue to get acquainted with individual representatives of this detachment.

Manatees

And in conclusion, I bring to your attention interesting documentaries, telling about the life of mysterious animals belonging to Siren squad

Siren Squad (Sirenia) (A. G. Tomilin)

Sirens are purely aquatic herbivorous mammals of tropical and subtropical latitudes.

The body of sirens is fusiform, ending in a horizontal caudal fin of a round or roughly triangular shape. The forelimbs are turned into fins, but the hind limbs are missing, there are only rudiments of the hip and pelvis. There is also no dorsal fin. The head is small, mobile, blunt in front, without ears, with small eyes directed slightly upward. The paired nostrils at the tip of the muzzle are tightly closed with valves and open only at the moment of exhalation and inhalation.

Externally similar to cetaceans, sirens retain more distinct features of their terrestrial ancestors: pectoral fins they are quite mobile in the shoulder and elbow joints; Even the joints of the hand are mobile, so the fins are better called flippers. Single setae grow on the body, and numerous vibrissae on the muzzle. With fleshy mobile lips, sirens tear algae and grind them with flattened molars or palatal and mandibular horny plates (only sea cows have no teeth at all). Due to herbivory, the incisors disappear early; except for dugongs, a capacious two-chamber stomach with a pair of pouch-like appendages and a long intestine with a large cecum develop. The skeleton is characterized by thick, heavy bones and a thick-walled, massive skull.

Phlegmatic and defenseless sirens live secretly among thick algae near sea ​​shores and in the mouths of tropical rivers. They have sensitive hearing, and also, judging by the large olfactory lobes of the brain, a good sense of smell. Their eyes are covered with a gelatinous substance. However, vision when living in algae thickets or in muddy rivers cannot be well developed. Convex mammary glands, with one nipple each, located on the chest between the flippers or almost under them, swell during the feeding period. This circumstance, supplemented by the imagination of medieval sailors, served as the basis for stories about sea maidens - sirens. They press their feeding cubs to their chest with flippers.

Sirens are an endangered group of mammals. They descended from terrestrial proboscis animals, as indicated by their fossil ancestor - Eotherium. Sirens have retained characteristics common to elephants: pectoral mammary glands, change of molars throughout life, tusk-like incisors (in dugongs), flat, nail-like hooves on manatee flippers, etc.

The order includes 3 families, one of which (sea cows) was exterminated 200 years ago.

Family Manatees (Trichechidae)

This family contains only one genus manatees(Trichechus). The body length of these animals does not exceed 5 m(Fig. 223). Their color varies from gray to black-gray. The skin is rough and wrinkled. The caudal fin is fan-shaped, rounded, without a central notch. The flippers have three middle fingers bearing flattened nail-like hooves. With the help of flexible flippers, manatees can crawl along the bottom of reservoirs, turn over from side to side outside the water, cuddle their young, grasp parts of aquatic plants with both hands and bring them to their mouths. The fleshy upper lip is forked. Both halves, moving quickly and independently, move food into the mouth and, acting together with the horny (upper and lower) plates, crush it. These plates develop in place of early lost incisors. In adults, there are 5-7 molars in each row of the upper and lower jaw. When the front ones wear out and fall out, the rear ones move forward, and new ones grow in the place of the rearmost ones. IN cervical spine 6 vertebrae, not 7, like all other animals. The heart is unique for the class of mammals in two ways: it is relatively the smallest (a thousand times lighter than body weight) and has externally bifid ventricles. Electrocardiograms of manatees, elephants and whales were similar.

There are three slightly different species in the genus; of them is better studied American manatee(Trichechus manatus). It does not exceed 5 m lengths, but now even 3.5 m, weighing 400 kg is rare. The body color is bluish-gray. The manatee lives off the Atlantic coast of the American continent - from Florida (30° N) to Brazil (19° S). There are two subspecies: Florida manatee(T. t. latirostris), living off the coast of Florida and Gulf of Mexico, And Caribbean manatee(T. m. manatus), found off the coast of the West Indies, Central America, Venezuela, Guiana, Brazil to the Manzanaras Lagoon. It is believed that several thousand of them live in Guiana alone.

In the littoral zone, rich in aquatic vegetation, manatees are sedentary, but migrate where vegetation is sparse. In Mexican waters the migration range reaches 100 km. Sometimes they swim into rivers, and Florida manatees do not stay there for long. Otherwise, there would be no barnacle shells on their body, which are killed by fresh water. Caribbean manatees are more likely to linger in rivers, especially South American ones. They are most active in the evening and early morning, and during the day they often rest on the surface. Herd behavior is better expressed in the Florida subspecies. IN cold weather Young manatees sometimes gather in groups of 15-20 individuals. Animals love to put nose to nose together to breathe. The respiratory act is performed without noise, pauses between breaths often vary from 1 to 2.5 minutes, but occasionally, at a maximum, reach 10 or even minutes. The nostrils open at the moment of exhalation - inhalation for only 2 seconds. Recently, 2 Florida manatees that lived in the Miami Aquarium, and 5 individuals planted in a canal to clear it of weeds, were able to record their voices. It was a quiet creaking trill with a frequency from 2.5 to 16 kHz and lasting 0.15-0.5 seconds. Whether such sounds are used for communication with conspecifics or for orientation through echolocation has not yet been established. The mechanism for producing sounds is also unknown.

Manatees tolerate captivity in zoos and aquariums well, but do not reproduce well. They take food from their hands already from the second day of life in the pool and feed here during the day, and not at night, as they do in the wild. Large animal(length 4.6 m) eats 30-50 kg of vegetables and fruits per day. Tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, melons, apples, bananas, and carrots serve as delicacies for them. They love to have their skin scratched with a brush; Without harm to themselves, they can remain out of the water for some time, for example, when their premises are cleaned. Manatees mate in shallow waters.

Their pregnancy in captivity lasts 152 days. The only calf will be born about 1 m and weighing almost 16 kg. The female is strongly attached to the suckling and does not leave him, even if she herself is in danger of death; feeds the cub with milk for 18 months.

Cubs grow more slowly than whales: by the end of the first year of life in captivity they reach 112-132 cm and only by the end of the third year do they double the length from birth. After this, growth slows down sharply. Sexual maturity occurs at 3-4 years with a body length of 2.5 m.

On his fourth voyage, Columbus, who considered manatees to be mermaids, ordered one of them to be caught and put in the lake. The animal here became tame, obediently swam to a person’s call and lived for 26 years. Manatees' enemies tropical rivers- caimans, and in the sea - tiger sharks. However, when in danger, phlegmatic animals acquire such mobility and strength that they often cope with their enemies themselves.

Manatees are killed from boats for their very tasty meat, tender fat used for making ointments, and skin. To save these animals from extermination, it has been prohibited to kill them in the USA since 1893, and in British Guiana - since 1962. Manatees are used as voracious herbivores to clean quickly overgrown reservoirs and canals. Experiments of this kind have been quite successful, but it has not yet been possible to widely use animals for such a purpose, since they often die during capture and transportation.

Besides the American manatee, there are two other very closely related species. First - African manatee(Trichechus senegalensis), living in rivers and shallow bays around Africa (from Senegal to the Cape of Good Hope and further to the Mozambique Channel and Ethiopia); This animal is distinguished by its black and gray color. Second type - Amazonian, or hoofless, manatee(Trichechus inunguis) - the smallest species; it does not have nail-like hooves on its flippers. It lives only in the Amazon, Orinoco and their tributaries.

Dugong family (Dugongidae)

The family contains only one genus, Dugong, with a single species - common dugong(D. dugong).

Its usual length is about 3 m, maximum - 5 m. At length 4 m it has a mass of 600 kg. This dugong differs sharply from manatees in the shape of its tail: its two blades are separated by a wide middle notch and pointed at the ends. The method of moving the tail is apparently the same as that of cetaceans. Flippers without nail-like hooves. The skin is thick, up to 2-2.5 cm. The color of the back varies from dark blue to pale brown, the belly is light. The thick, bristly muzzle ends with fleshy, mobile lips that hang down. The upper lip is deeply forked, and in this place its middle part is covered with short, stiff setae. This device helps to crush plant foods that are ground by teeth.

Young dugongs have a pair of incisors and four pairs of molars in the upper jaws, and a pair of incisors and seven pairs of molars in the lower jaws; only 26 teeth. Adult dugongs retain only 10 teeth - a pair of upper incisors and two pairs of upper and lower molars. Both upper incisors in males turn into tusks 20-25 long cm: they are 5-7 cm protrude from the gums and are used as a weapon in the fight for the female.

Dugongs were more numerous in the past and penetrated as far north as Western Europe and Japan. Nowadays they have been preserved only in the warm zone: in a number of bays and bays of the Red Sea, off the eastern shores tropical Africa, on both sides of India, near Ceylon, near the islands of the Indo-Malayan and Philippine archipelagos, Taiwan, New Guinea, Northern Australia, the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia.

Usually they stay close to the coast, above depths of no more than 20 m. Where there is a lot of algae, dugongs tend to live sedentary. They live alone and in pairs, rarely gathering in groups, and in the past herds of up to hundreds of animals have been recorded. When feeding, they spend 98% of their time underwater, emerging to breathe every 1-4 minutes. The limit of their immersion, however, is a quarter of an hour. Usually very silent. Only the excited ones grunt and whistle hoarsely.

IN mating season Dugongs are very active, especially the males, who fight over females. Pregnancy is believed to last almost a year and the lactation period is the same. Newborn about 1-1.5 m, is quite mobile and breathes much more often than adults. In case of danger, individuals in mating pairs do not leave each other, just like the parents of the cubs.

For young dugongs, especially in the first months of life, tiger sharks are very dangerous, but humans are much more dangerous.

In the past, netting has severely depleted dugong stocks in Australian waters.

After the cessation of such fishing, their stocks increased somewhat, and now they are caught with harpoons from boats. A wounded animal, towing a boat, reaches a speed of up to 18 km/h. Dugongs do not tolerate captivity well, much worse than manatees.

Family Sea cows (Hidrodamalidae)

This includes only one type - maritime, or Steller's cow(or cabbage butterfly) - Hidrodamalis gigas. It was discovered in 1741 by Bering's expedition and exterminated within 27 years. Georg Steller- the expedition doctor - was the only biologist who saw and studied the sea cow himself. According to his description, the body length of the killed female reached 752 cm, and mass - 3.5 T. The front part of the animal resembled a seal, and the back part (up to the tail) resembled a fish. The horizontal caudal fin was very wide, with a fringed edge. The dark brown, rough and folded skin looked like the bark of an old oak tree. The one and a half meter long flippers had two joints, and at the end there was something like a horse's hoof. There were no teeth at all. The food - sea cabbage - was ground by two white horny plates with a ribbed surface - palatal and mandibular. The unbifurcated lips were covered with bristles as thick as the shaft of a chicken feather. Miniature, no more than a sheep's, the eyes had no eyelids. Very small ear openings were lost among the wrinkles and folds of the skin. On the chest, almost under the flippers, there were two nipples 5 inches long. cm. When pressed, thick and fatty milk came out of them.

Sea cows lived in herds, numbering no more than 2,000 animals, and only off the coast of the Commander Islands - Bering and Medny. Indications of their encounters in other places are based on corpses thrown up by the sea.

The animals lived in shallow places near the shore, to which they came so close that they could be touched with their hands. They were almost always busy eating: while moving slowly, they tore off shoots of seaweed with their flippers and constantly chewed it. Every 4-5 minutes they stuck out their noses and, with a noise similar to the neighing and snorting of horses, exhaled air with a small amount of spray. Sea cows did not dive, and their backs were high, right up to the sides, always exposed from the water. Seagulls would land on their backs and pick out whale lice from the uneven skin. Where the cabbage fish fed, the sea threw up large piles of roots and stems of aquatic plants, as well as feces very similar to horse feces. The attachment of males to females was quite strong. One day they observed how a male swam to a female lying dead on the shore for two days in a row.

Sea cows rested on their backs and drifted across the surface of the sea in quiet bays.

Bering's companions drank the fat of the sea cow in cups without any disgust, and considered the meat as tasty as the best veal.

After Bering's discovery of the Commander Islands, crowded expeditions began to visit, and all of them mercilessly killed sea cows for meat. At the same time, only a smaller part of the animals fell into the hands of hunters, and the majority died at sea from wounds.

The last sea cow on Bering Island was killed in 1768, and on Medny Island in 1754. Meanwhile, with its harmless disposition, the Steller's cow could have become the first marine domestic animal.

Siren Squad

(Sirenia)*

* Sirens special squad mammals, like whales, completely switched to an aquatic lifestyle. Their closest terrestrial relatives are elephants and hyraxes. In the structure of the skull, sirens retained quite a few similarities with primitive hyraxes and proboscideans, although the rest of their body underwent significant changes. All sirenians are herbivorous and eat both algae and higher aquatic plants. These creatures could only be united with the legendary sea maidens by the mammary glands located on the chest between the front legs (as in proboscideans).

Anyone who, when naming sirens, would think of the fabulous creatures of the ancient world - half-women and half-fish, who live in the crystal depths of the sea and with their wonderful singing, fiery gaze, nodding of the head, games and caresses, lure a poor mortal with the goal of destroying him, would be cruelly mistaken. In this case, the naturalists only showed their love for poetic names, but did not think at all about the ancient legend. The name of the sirens corresponds to the animals we describe in much the same way as the name Greek nymph Hamadryads - an ugly and, perhaps only in the eyes of a naturalist, a beautiful baboon (hamadryas).
Sirens form a separate unit. By internal structure their bodies most likely resemble ungulates and can be considered a special group of ungulates that have adapted to permanent life in water. Many naturalists classified them as whales, making up a separate family of these animals from the sirens; but the order we are describing is so different from whales that it turned out to be quite advisable to separate it.
Distinctive features sirens can serve as: a small head clearly separated from the body with a thick-lipped muzzle, bristly lips, nostrils located at the end of the muzzle; a peculiarly constructed clumsy body, covered with sparse bristly hair and, finally, special structure dental system. We notice they have only two forelimbs, which look like real flippers. The skin that covers the entire body also covers the fingers so much that their joints cannot move separately. Only the fingernail marks seen at the ends of these flippers indicate the existence of separate digits. The tail, which replaces the hind limbs.
ends in a reach, like that of whales. A large amount of imagination is required to even mistake these animals for fairy-tale sirens from a distance: the body of these clumsy and massive animals is only similar to the body beautiful woman that the nipples are located on the chest between the flippers, and the mammary glands have a more convex shape than in other mammals.
This order consists of three families, one of which, the sea cow, or cabbage weed, is no longer found among modern animals. Families differ so greatly from each other in their teeth that we find it more convenient to speak of the dental system when describing individual animals.
External signs The living species of sirens are the same as those of the entire detachment. Regarding the skeleton and viscera, the following can be noted: the skull is rather short, somewhat convex at the back; the narrowest place is located near the back of the frontal bone, the zygomatic arch is very massive, a very wide zygomatic process separates from the temporal bone; small frontal bones form the border of the nasal opening with their anterior part, and small nasal bones lie at their anterior edge; The intermaxillary bones of dugongs are strongly swollen, since they contain large incisors that look like tusks, while in manatees these bones are not very long. Teeth are visible on both jaws. In addition to the seven cervical vertebrae, the spinal column consists of the dorsal, lumbar and caudal vertebrae; there are no sacral ones at all; the vertebrae are equipped with very simple processes. The breast bone is made up of several parts lying one after another. The triangular scapulae at the inner anterior corner are rounded, with a fairly well developed ridge, so that they are similar to the scapulae of other mammals. The forelimbs are quite well developed, the fingers are mobile and consist of only three joints*.

* Sirens, at least manatees, very actively use their forelimbs: they walk on them along the bottom of reservoirs, pull them towards them and hold them various items, hold the cub during feeding and in danger. Among other features of the skeleton, it should be said about its great massiveness and density; heavy bones, primarily the ribs, act as ballast, reducing the buoyancy of the sirens and making it easier for them to dive.

The habitat of sirens is the marshy shores and sea bays of hot countries, river mouths and shallows. These animals are only rarely found in temperate zone, but we do not have exact information about this, since they are difficult to observe.
However, we know that sirens change their location and sometimes undertake long journeys, namely, they rise far upstream of rivers into the interior of the country and sometimes reach lakes that are connected to big rivers. They are met either in pairs or in small societies and it is assumed that these pairs, that is, a male and a female, live constantly together and never separate. Sirens are much more aquatic animals than pinnipeds; They only in rare cases push the front part of their massive body to the shore, above the surface of the water. They are not nearly as adept at swimming and diving as other aquatic mammals; Although they move quite quickly in the water, they avoid deep places, probably because they cannot descend into and rise from the depths well. On land they move only with the greatest difficulty; their flippers are too weak to move their bulky body on land, especially since it does not have the flexibility of a pinniped's body. Sirens feed on algae, seaweed and those found in rivers and shallow places; These are the only aquatic mammals that feed exclusively on plant foods. They pluck plants with their thick lips and large quantities swallow them into a wide esophagus, like hippopotamuses.
Like all voracious creatures, sirens are lazy and dull-witted animals with poorly developed external senses. They are called peaceful and harmless creatures, but this should mean that their life is spent only in eating and sleeping. They are not shy, but not brave either, they live in peace with other animals and generally care only about their food. Their understanding is very limited, but its presence cannot be completely denied. Both sexes are very attached to each other, protect and protect each other, and mothers look after their cubs with care and compassion. great love; they say that when the mother feeds the baby, she holds it, like a woman, with one of her flippers and gently presses the little one to her thick body. In case of danger and pain, tears flow from their eyes, but it would be wrong to conclude from this that they are particularly sensitive: the tears of sirens do not have of great importance, and they cannot be compared at all with the feigned tears of fairy-tale sirens. The voice of these animals also does not at all resemble the wonderful singing of sea mermaids, but consists of a weak and dull moan. When they breathe, a strong wheezing sound is heard. It should be noted that these clumsy creatures not only endure captivity, but can even be tamed to a fairly large extent.
Their meat and fat, as well as skin and teeth, are used, but sirens do not bring any other benefit.

Life of animals. - M.: State Publishing House of Geographical Literature. A. Brem. 1958.

See what “Siren Squad” is in other dictionaries:

Siren Squad- 5. Squad of the Siren Sirenia Huge pieces of meat were cut off from the living prey, and the victim fought back with flippers with such force that pieces of skin were torn off from them. At the same time, the animal was breathing heavily, as if sighing. Blood flowed like fountains from the wounds in the back... Male... Animals of Russia. Directory

Sirens are purely aquatic herbivorous mammals of tropical and subtropical latitudes. The body of sirens is fusiform, ending in a horizontal caudal fin of a round or roughly triangular shape. Forelegs... ... Biological encyclopedia

Sirens ... Wikipedia

- (Sirenia), order of mammals. Known since the Eocene. They probably originated in the Paleocene from primitive proboscideans. The body is spindle-shaped, with a horizontal caudal fin. The forelimbs are in the form of flippers, movable at the shoulder and elbow joints; ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

Sirens, (biol.)- Sirens: manatee. Crystal River, Florida. SIRENS, a group of aquatic mammals. The body is spindle-shaped, dark brown in color. Length up to 5.8 m, weight up to 650 kg. They feed mainly on aquatic plants. 3 families: manatees (3 species), dugongs (1 species) and... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Sirens (Sirenia), an order of aquatic mammals. 3 families: manatees (3 species), dugongs (Dugongidae, with 1 species - dugong) and Steller's, or sea cows (Hydrodamalictae, with 1 species - sea cow, exterminated in the 18th century). S. adapted to... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

SIRENS (sirenaceae) (Sirenia), a detachment of permanently aquatic mammals (see MAMMALS). Distributed in coastal areas of seas and in rivers in tropical and subtropical areas. Sirens have a massive fusiform body, relatively small... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

SIRENS, a group of aquatic mammals. The body is spindle-shaped, dark brown in color. Length up to 5.8 m, weight up to 650 kg. They feed mainly on aquatic plants. 3 families: manatees (3 species), dugongs (1 species) and sea cows. They live in tropical... Modern encyclopedia

Order of aquatic mammals. The body is torpedo-shaped, the forelimbs are flippers, the hind limbs are absent; there is a caudal fin. 2 families: manatees (3 species), dugongs (1 species). In the seas near the coasts and in large rivers Asia, Africa, Australia,... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

(Sirenia)*

* Sirens are a special order of mammals, like whales, that have completely switched to an aquatic lifestyle. Their closest terrestrial relatives are elephants and hyraxes. In the structure of the skull, sirens retained quite a few similarities with primitive hyraxes and proboscideans, although the rest of their body underwent significant changes. All sirenians are herbivorous and eat both algae and higher aquatic plants. These creatures could only be united with the legendary sea maidens by the mammary glands located on the chest between the front legs (as in proboscideans).

Anyone who, when naming sirens, would think of the fabulous creatures of the ancient world - half-women and half-fish, who live in the crystal depths of the sea and with their wonderful singing, fiery gaze, nodding of the head, games and caresses, lure a poor mortal with the goal of destroying him, would be cruelly mistaken. In this case, the naturalists only showed their love for poetic names, but did not think at all about the ancient legend. The name of the sirens corresponds to the animals we describe in approximately the same way as the name of the Greek nymph Hamadryad - to the ugly and, perhaps only in the eyes of a naturalist, beautiful baboon (hamadryas).
Sirens form a separate unit. According to the internal structure of the body, they most likely resemble ungulates and can be considered a special group of ungulates that have adapted to permanent life in water. Many naturalists classified them as whales, making up a separate family of these animals from the sirens; but the order we are describing is so different from whales that it turned out to be quite advisable to separate it.
Distinctive features of sirens can be: a small head clearly separated from the body with a thick-lipped muzzle, bristly lips, nostrils located at the end of the muzzle; a peculiarly constructed clumsy body, covered with sparse bristly hair and, finally, a special structure of the dental system. We notice they have only two forelimbs, which look like real flippers. The skin that covers the entire body also covers the fingers so much that their joints cannot move separately. Only the fingernail marks seen at the ends of these flippers indicate the existence of separate digits. The tail, which replaces the hind limbs.
ends in a reach, like that of whales. A large amount of imagination is required to even mistake these animals for fairy-tale sirens from a distance: the body of these clumsy and massive animals is only similar to the body of a beautiful woman in that the nipples are located on the chest between the flippers, and the mammary glands have a more convex shape than those of other mammals .
This order consists of three families, one of which, the sea cow, or cabbage weed, is no longer found among modern animals. Families differ so greatly from each other in their teeth that we find it more convenient to speak of the dental system when describing individual animals.
The external signs of the still living species of sirens are the same as those of the entire detachment. Regarding the skeleton and viscera, the following can be noted: the skull is rather short, somewhat convex at the back; the narrowest place is located near the back of the frontal bone, the zygomatic arch is very massive, a very wide zygomatic process separates from the temporal bone; small frontal bones form the border of the nasal opening with their anterior part, and small nasal bones lie at their anterior edge; The intermaxillary bones of dugongs are strongly swollen, since they contain large incisors that look like tusks, while in manatees these bones are not very long. Teeth are visible on both jaws. In addition to the seven cervical vertebrae, the spinal column consists of the dorsal, lumbar and caudal vertebrae; there are no sacral ones at all; the vertebrae are equipped with very simple processes. The breast bone is made up of several parts lying one after another. The triangular scapulae at the inner anterior corner are rounded, with a fairly well developed ridge, so that they are similar to the scapulae of other mammals. The forelimbs are quite well developed, the fingers are mobile and consist of only three joints*.

* Sirens, at least manatees, very actively use their forelimbs: they walk on them along the bottom of reservoirs, pull and hold various objects, hold the baby during feeding and in danger. Among other features of the skeleton, it should be said about its great massiveness and density; heavy bones, primarily the ribs, act as ballast, reducing the buoyancy of the sirens and making it easier for them to dive.

The habitat of sirens is the marshy shores and sea bays of hot countries, river mouths and shallows. These animals are only rarely found in the temperate zone, but we do not have accurate information about this, since they are difficult to observe.
However, we know that sirens change their location and sometimes undertake long journeys, namely, they rise far upstream of rivers into the interior of the country and sometimes reach lakes that are connected to large rivers. They are met either in pairs or in small societies and it is assumed that these pairs, that is, a male and a female, live constantly together and never separate. Sirens are much more aquatic animals than pinnipeds; They only in rare cases push the front part of their massive body to the shore, above the surface of the water. They are not nearly as adept at swimming and diving as other aquatic mammals; Although they move quite quickly in the water, they avoid deep places, probably because they cannot descend into and rise from the depths well. On land they move only with the greatest difficulty; their flippers are too weak to move their bulky body on land, especially since it does not have the flexibility of a pinniped's body. Sirens feed on algae, seaweed and those found in rivers and shallow places; These are the only aquatic mammals that feed exclusively on plant foods. They tear off plants with their thick lips and swallow them in large quantities into a wide esophagus, like hippopotamuses.
Like all voracious creatures, sirens are lazy and dull-witted animals with poorly developed external senses. They are called peaceful and harmless creatures, but this should mean that their life is spent only in eating and sleeping. They are not shy, but not brave either, they live in peace with other animals and generally care only about their food. Their understanding is very limited, but its presence cannot be completely denied. Both sexes are very attached to each other, protect and protect each other, and mothers look after their cubs carefully and with great love; they say that when the mother feeds the baby, she holds it, like a woman, with one of her flippers and gently presses the little one to her thick body. In times of danger and pain, tears flow from their eyes, but it would be wrong to conclude from this that they are especially sensitive: the tears of sirens are not of great importance, and they cannot be compared at all with the feigned tears of fairy-tale sirens. The voice of these animals also does not at all resemble the wonderful singing of sea mermaids, but consists of a weak and dull moan. When they breathe, a strong wheezing sound is heard. It should be noted that these clumsy creatures not only endure captivity, but can even be tamed to a fairly large extent.
Their meat and fat, as well as skin and teeth, are used, but sirens do not bring any other benefit.

• - Sirens are purely aquatic herbivorous mammals of tropical and subtropical latitudes. The body of sirens is spindle-shaped, ending with a horizontal caudal fin...

  Biological encyclopedia

• - 5. - Sirenia Huge pieces of meat were cut off from living prey, and the victim fought back with flippers with such force that pieces of skin were torn off from them. At the same time, the animal was breathing heavily, as if sighing...

  Animals of Russia. Directory

• - In Homer, these are two sisters who lured sailors with their singing, guiding their ships towards the island rocks. The island itself is littered with the bones of their victims...

  Ancient world. Dictionary-reference book

• - Sirenes, Σειρη̃νες, maidens on the island western sea, located between the island of Kirki and Scylla; They attracted those passing by with their pleasant singing and drew them into destruction...

  Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities

• - in Greek myth. demonic creatures, born R. Achelous and one of the muses: Melpomene, Terpsichore or the daughter of Sterope. S. are mixanthropic by nature, they are half-birds, half-women, inherited...

  Ancient world. encyclopedic Dictionary

• -, in Greek. myth, daughters of Achelous or Phorkis, evil demons, bird people, possessing special knowledge and the ability to change the weather...

  Dictionary of Antiquity

• - Sea maidens, of whom there were three and who attracted sailors with their singing in order to destroy them. According to legend, they lived not far from Scylla...

  Encyclopedia of Mythology

• - order of mammals. Known since the Eocene. They probably originated in the Paleocene from primitive proboscideans. The body is spindle-shaped, with a horizontal caudal fin...

  Biological encyclopedic dictionary

• - detachment of waters. mammals. The body is torpedo-shaped, the forelimbs are flippers, the hind limbs are absent; there is a caudal fin. 2nd semester: manatees, dugongs...

  Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

• - I Sirens in ancient times Greek mythology half-birds, half-women. According to Homer's Odyssey, with their magical singing S. lured sailors to the coastal rocks on which ships crashed...
• - Sirens, a group of aquatic mammals. 3 families: manatees, dugongs and Steller's, or sea, cows. S. are adapted to an aquatic lifestyle...

  Great Soviet Encyclopedia

• - in Greek mythology, half-birds, half-women who lured sailors with their singing and killed them. IN figuratively- seductive beauties, enchanting with their voices...

  Modern encyclopedia

• - a detachment of aquatic mammals. The body is spindle-shaped, dark brown in color. Length up to 5.8 m, weight up to 650 kg. They feed mainly on aquatic plants. 3 families: manatees, dugongs and sea cows...

  Modern encyclopedia

• - in Greek mythology, half-birds, half-women who lured sailors with their singing and killed them. Metaphorically - seductive beauties, enchanting with their voices...
• - a detachment of aquatic mammals. The body is torpedo-shaped, the forelimbs are flippers, the hind limbs are absent; there is a caudal fin. 2 families: manatees, dugongs...

  Large encyclopedic dictionary

• - sirens I sirens pl. A family of tailed amphibians with a long, serpentine body that retains external gills throughout their lives...

  Dictionary Efremova

"Siren Squad" in the books

author Bram Alfred Edmund

Order XII Herbivorous whales, or sirens

From the book Animal Life Volume I Mammals author Bram Alfred Edmund

Squad XII Herbivorous whales, or sirens According to the internal structure of the body, these animals most likely resemble ungulates that have only adapted to permanent life in water. The distinctive features of sirens are: a small head, clearly separated from the body, with bristly,

Sirens of Colmar

From the book The Dolphin Man by Maillol Jacques

Sirens of Colmar I remember how, several years ago, while traveling in Alsace, in the Colmar Museum I stopped in front of an elaborate wooden figure of a sirenoid, or water man, a work of the 14th century. Strange thing, this sirenoid was not a newt, sea ​​creature,

AFTER THE SIREN

From the book The Hundredth Chance author Sturikov Nikolay Andreevich

AFTER THE SIREN He was waiting for the Siren to rise, dressed in a prisoner's uniform - he had to quickly hide in the seething, running crowd, evade the meeting with the punishers and guards. And he dived into the middle of the human stream. He took it to the washbasin. And here he saw through the window... He saw it on

Sirens

From the book Encyclopedia of Slavic culture, writing and mythology author Kononenko Alexey Anatolievich

Sirens These mythical creatures known from Greek mythology. Sirens are the daughters of the lord of fresh waters, the god Achelous, and one of the muses (Terpsichore or Melpomene). They inherited a wild and evil character from their father, and a divine voice from their mother. Bird's feet

SIRENS

From the book Exotic Zoology author Nepomnyashchiy Nikolai Nikolaevich

SIRENS Sirens are mythical female creatures, female birds or mermaids, who, with their singing and enchanting music lure sailors and destroy them. Sirens came to us from ancient greek mythology, mainly from the legends of Jason and Odysseus (Ulysses, in Latin). Jason and

Sirens

From the book The Complete Encyclopedia of Mythological Creatures. Story. Origin. Magic properties by Conway Deanna

Sirens Although sirens were associated with the ocean and water in Greek mythology, they were originally birds with human characteristics. Their name comes from a Greek root word meaning “to bind or bind.” This word came to Latin as sirena,

Sirens

From the book Mythological Dictionary by Archer Vadim

Sirens (Greek) are half-women, half-birds, born of the river Achelous and one of the muses (options: Melpomene, Terpsichore) or the daughter of Sterope. The number of S. ranges from two or three to many. S. live on rocky island, the shores of which are strewn with the bones of their victims, lying between Kirki Island

Sirens

From the book Encyclopedic Dictionary (C) author Brockhaus F.A.

Sirens Sirens (SeirhneV, Sirenes) - in Greek mythology, sea muses, personifying the deceptive but charming sea surface, under which sharp cliffs or shoals are hidden. The first mention of S. is in the Odyssey. They live in the west, on an island between the earth

Sirens

From the book Disasters of the Body [The influence of stars, deformation of the skull, giants, dwarfs, fat men, hairy men, freaks...] author Kudryashov Viktor Evgenievich

Sirens Sirens personify both danger and irresistible charm. Legends say that at night these beautiful creatures call sailors to return to the sea. Unfortunately, the term “siren” has little application to the unfortunate creatures that medicine

Sirens (order of aquatic mammals)

From the book Big Soviet Encyclopedia(SI) of the author TSB

Sirens

From the book No Gold in the Gray Mountains [collection] author Andrzej Sapkowski

Sirens In Greek mythology, they were considered the daughters of the river deity Achelous and one of the muses (either Melpomene or Terpsichore). They were Persephone's playmates, and as punishment for not stopping Hades from kidnapping her, they were turned into monsters: half-women, half-fish. They were told

Sirens

From the book Encyclopedia of Classical Greco-Roman Mythology author Obnorsky V.

Sirens In ancient Greek mythology, sirens are characters in fantastic sea legends. Melodious singing and omniscience bring them closer to the muses. They are considered the children of Achelous or, as some believe, Phorcys and the muses Terpsichore or the daughter of Portaon named Sterope. They have faces

Sirens

From the book Myths of Greece and Rome by Gerber Helen

The Sirens Having finished this matter, the Greeks, driven by a fresh wind, left the island of Circe and sailed further until they reached the rocky island where the Sirens lived. They sat on the rocks and sang their magical songs, which forced the sailors to turn off course and swim towards them.

150. Two sirens

From the book of Proverbs and History, volume 1 author Baba Sri Sathya Sai

150. Two Sirens There are two malicious sirens who seduce youth with vanity and debauchery, leading them to the path of destruction. One of them is Ms. Cinematography, the other is Ms. Fiction. Most films defile and corrupt young, innocent minds, they teach

The name sirens comes from the sirens from Greek mythology, as from a distance they can be easily confused with bathing people. However, the singing of the legendary sirens does not suit these animals in any way. Christopher Columbus was not the first person to see sirens, but he is known to have mentioned them in his diary in 1493. Sirens(lat. Sirenia) - herbivorous marine mammals, gentle creatures, absolutely safe and, moreover, practically silent.

Dugong

Sea, or Steller's, cows (Hydrodamalis), manatees (Trichechidae) and dugongs (Dugongidae) are representatives of three families of animals, united in a small order of sirens (Sirenia). They originated from proboscis animals; their most distant ancestor is considered to be Eotherium (terrestrial fossil animal). Further confirmation that sirens existed many millions of years ago and led a terrestrial lifestyle was recently received by American paleontologists who found in Jamaica the remains of the ancestor of the Steller's cow, which is at least 50 million years old. This find helped restore the evolutionary chain of transformation of land dwellers into sea dwellers. The skeleton of the fossil animal was more than 2 meters long, and its body, according to scientists, should have weighed at least 100 kg and had powerful, well-developed limbs. Wherein anatomical features allowed him to live in the water. According to one scientific hypothesis, sea cows rushed from land into the water for a new source of food - sea grass and gradually began to spend time there most life. Over time, manatees developed fins and their hind legs were replaced by a tail.

In the evolutionary series modern mammals are located between cetaceans and pinnipeds. In memory of their land-based ancestors, manatees retained lungs, limbs transformed into flippers, and a flat, rounded tail. It is noteworthy that three flat nails are preserved at the tips of their flippers, but on land these animals cannot move even by crawling.

Manatees are staunch vegetarians. Thanks to their very heavy skeleton, they easily sink to the bottom, where they feed on algae and herbs, eating huge amounts of them. Manatees grind their food with 20 teeth. The incisors are lost early, but in their place horny plates develop, with which animals deftly grasp and grind food. While feeding, they pull algae towards them with their flippers and, pressing an armful to their body, absorb the long green stems with constant appetite. Sometimes manatees even pluck some coastal plants. However, no matter how great their desire to eat a fresh twig, they cannot get out onto land. After eating it is time to rest. Manatees sleep in shallow water with their backs above the water and their tails on the bottom, or they hang in the water using densely intertwined algae as a hammock. They can be seen sleeping or dozing at any time of the day, but only in the most secluded and quiet places.

Typically, a female manatee gives birth to one baby every 3-5 years, very rarely twins. After mating, the male does not leave the female until the baby is born. Pregnancy lasts about 9 months. The peak birth rate occurs in April-May. Childbirth takes place under water. A newly born manatee is about 1 meter long and weighs 20-30 kg. Immediately after birth, the mother lifts the baby on her back to the surface of the water so that it takes its first breath. For about another 45 minutes, the baby usually remains lying on the mother’s back, gradually regaining consciousness, and then they are immersed in the water again.

A sea cow feeds her baby with milk underwater. Well-developed nipples located on the chest often misled many sailors, who mistook them for mermaids. Both parents take part in the initial upbringing of the calf, affectionately hugging it with flippers and rolling it on their back when it gets tired. Then, for two years, the baby remains under the watchful care of the female. Sexual maturity in manatees occurs at 3-4 years of age.

The manatee family has three species: American (Trichechus manatus), living along the coast from Florida to Brazil, African (T. senegalensis), living near river banks Equatorial Africa, and Amazonian (T. inunguis), which has chosen the Amazon, Orinoco and their tributaries.

The body length of manatees reaches 4 meters, they weigh about 400 kilograms, although individual males can reach 700. The body of the animals is spindle-shaped, ending with a horizontal rounded caudal fin. The forelimbs are transformed into flexible pectoral fins, and in place of the hind limbs there are only rudiments of the femur and pelvic bones. There is also no dorsal fin. The head is small, very mobile, without ears, with small eyes covered with a gelatinous mass. Studies have shown that manatees have poor vision. But they have sensitive hearing and, judging by the large olfactory lobes of the brain, a good sense of smell. Manatees have two distinctive features. Firstly, they have 6 cervical vertebrae, while other mammals have 7. And secondly, the heart of manatees, in relation to their body weight, is the smallest among all representatives of the animal world - it is 1,000 times lighter than their weight.

Manatees are very heat-loving creatures. If the water temperature drops below +8 degrees, they are doomed to death. Therefore, in winter they warm themselves in warm currents, flocking into larger flocks. These extremely peaceful animals also have enemies. In tropical rivers they are caimans, in the sea they are sharks. Usually slow, manatees, in defense, display activity that is rare for them.

But the greatest threat to the life of these already quite rare animals is still posed by humans, who are gradually displacing them from ecological niche, thereby depriving them of living space. Manatees are often destroyed for the sake of tasty meat and valuable fat used for the preparation of medicinal ointments and cosmetics, and this, despite laws prohibiting their shooting and trapping, adopted in the USA back in 1893, and in Guyana in 1926.

The once calm waters of the local rivers, lakes and seas are now cut by boats and motor boats, and often peacefully grazing manatees fall under their propellers. Many die from their wounds, and the survivors have terrible scars on their backs. Fishing hooks and nets also cause great trouble for these animals. Relatively recently, special warning signs appeared on the coasts: “Caution! Manatee habitat! Cross very carefully!”

Apparently, people are still capable of learning from their mistakes, which means there is hope that these trusting and completely harmless creatures of Nature will continue to live on our planet.

Ksenia Cherkashina