cousins.
Of the elephant’s contemporaries, these creatures inhabit the closest gene-pools.
Spoiler alert. Some entries in the Table make veiled reference to entries elsewhere in the Table. Some of you tell us you’ve enjoying discovering these associations on your own, so maybe hold off reading these rubric items until you’ve spent time with the Table as a whole. Which, if you can’t spring for the print version right now, you’ll find it here.
cousins.
12 | Rock Badger
Aka Hyrax, along with Sirenians (Nos. 13–15) this species is most closely related to the elephant. They have two prominent tusk-like upper incisors, and the rock badger male does not sport his testicles externally but keeps them tucked away high in the abdomen.
cousins.
13 | Manatee
Aka Sea Cow, manatees demonstrate an intelligence similar to dolphins, though less in-your-face. Unfortunately, their curiosity, coupled with intense coastal development, results in collisions with boat props, leading to maiming, disfigurement, or death. Many manatees show spiral scar tissue along their backs caused by ships lacking propellor guards. The U.S. Geological Survey predicts if boat mortality rates continue to increase, the population will not recover over the next century.
cousins.
14 | Dugong
The population has shrunk by a fifth over the last century, having disappeared from the waters of Hong Kong, Mauritius, Taiwan, and other parts of the western Pacific. Sailors have often mistaken dugongs for mermaids, which some mermaids take offense at. Three dugongs remain in captivity; one in Japan, one at Sea World Indonesia, and one at Sydney Aquarium. They are social animals.
cousins.
15 | Stellar’s Sea Cow
As adults, these grew up to 9 meters (30 feet) long and may have weighed as much as 11 tons. Within 27 years of their discovery by Europeans, the creature was reported hunted to extinction. In 1962, the crew of the Russian whaling ship Buran reported a group of marine mammals with short trunks grazing on seaweed in shallows off Kamchatka in the Gulf of Anadyr. The crew reported seeing six animals ranging from 6 to 8 meters (20 to 26 feet). In addition, there are alleged sightings by local fishermen in the Kuril Islands and around the Kamchatka and Chukchi peninsulas. Shh.