Manatee

Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus Trichechus) are large, fully-aquatic marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. The name comes from the Spanish manatí, which itself comes from a Carib word meaning "breast." They comprise three of the four living species in the order Sirenia, the other being the dugong. The Sirenia are thought to have evolved from four legged land mammals over 60 million years ago, with the closest living relatives being the Proboscidea (elephants) and Hyracoidea (hyraxes).