The common name is Dugong while the scientific name is Dugong dugon. The scientific classification of the Dugong is: the kingdom is Animalia; the phylum is Chordata; the class is Mammalia; the order is Sirenia; the family is Dugongidae; the genus is Dugong; and the species is Dugong dugon. A description of the Dugong is that it is a medium-sized marine mammal. Like all modern sirenians, the dugong has a fusiform body with no dorsal fin or hind limbs. The forelimbs or flippers are paddle-like. The dugong is easily distinguished from the manatees by its fluked, dolphin-like tail, but also possesses a unique skull and teeth. Its snout is sharply downturned, an adaptation for feeding in benthic seagrass communities. The molar teeth are simple and peg-like unlike the more elaborate molar dentition of manatees. The Dugong is largely dependent on seagrass communities for subsistence and is thus restricted to the coastal habitats which support seagrass meadows, with the largest dugong concentrations typically occurring in wide, shallow, protected areas such as bays, mangrove channels, the waters of large inshore islands and inter-reefal waters. The northern waters of Australia between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay are believed to be the dugong's contemporary stronghold. The environment of Dugongs is that they are generally found in warm waters around the coast with large numbers concentrated in wide and shallow protected bays. The Dugong is the only strictly-marine herbivorous mammal, as all species of manatee utilise fresh water to some degree. Nonetheless, they can tolerate the brackish waters found in coastal wetlands, and large numbers are also found in wide and shallow mangrove channels and around leeward sides of large inshore islands, where seagrass beds are common. They have disappeared from the waters of Hong Kong, Mauritius, and Taiwan, as well as parts of Cambodia, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam. Further disappearances are likely. The reproduction of the Dugong is that the time between births is unclear, with estimates ranging from 2 to 7 years. Mating behavior varies between populations located in different areas. In some populations, males will establish a territory which females in heat will visit. In these areas a male will try to impress the females while defending the area from other males, a practice known as lekking. In other areas many males will attempt to mate with the same female, sometimes inflicting injuries to the female or each other. During this the female will have copulated with multiple males, who will have fought to mount her from below. The growth and development of the Dugong is that as soon as the young is born the mother pushes it to the surface to take a breath. Newborns are already 4 feet long and weigh around 66 lb. Once born, they stay close to their mothers, possibly to make swimming easier. The calf nurses for 14–18 months, although it begins to eat seagrasses soon after birth. A calf will only leave its mother once it has matured. A dugong reaches sexual maturity between the ages of eight and eighteen, older than in most other mammals. The way that females know how a male has reached sexual maturity is by the eruption of tusks in the male since tusks erupt in males when testosterone levels reach a high enough level. The age when a female first gives birth is disputed, with some studies placing the age between ten and seventeen years, while others place it as early as six years. There is evidence that male dugongs lose fertility at older ages. Despite the longevity of the dugong, which may live for 50 years or more, females give birth only a few times during their life, and invest considerable parental care in their young. The nutritional requirements for the Dugongs is that, along with other sirenians, they are referred to as "sea cows" because their diet consists mainly of sea-grass. When eating they ingest the whole plant, including the roots, although when this is impossible they will feed on just the leaves. A wide variety of seagrass has been found in dugong stomach contents, and evidence exists they will eat algae when seagrass is scarce. Although almost completely herbivorous, they will occasionally eat invertebrates such as jellyfish, sea squirts, and shellfish. Dugongs in Moreton Bay, Australia, are omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates such as polychaetes or marine algae when the supply of their choice grasses decreases. A fun fact is that the Dugong has been listed as a species that is at risk of extinction.

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