Manatee Hybrids
Family Trichechidae
Mammalian Hybrids
T. manatusNote: Manatees are members of Order Sirenia
Trichechus inunguis [Amazonian Manatee]
× Trichechus manatus [West Indian Manatee] ENHR. HPF. Manatees along the coastof French Guiana are predominantly hybrids of this kind. Vilaca et al. 2019, who conducted a molecular genetic study of this population, stated that "Previous studies have reported hybrids between T. inunguis and T. manatus close to the Amazon River mouth, likely composing an extensive hybrid zone under the influence of the Amazon River plume along the Guianas coast in South America. We have generated ddRAD SNP data, and sequences of nuclear and mtDNA loci to characterize the manatees’ genomic composition along the French Guiana coastline. Using analyses and simulations to examine the process of hybridization, we found this population to be formed by introgressed or later generation interspecific hybrids. We also describe the first pure T. inunguis found outside the Amazon River basin. Our results indicate that T. inunguis can survive in the Amazon River plume and have colonized independent water streams of the Guianas coastline where they likely hybridize with T. manatus. This hypothesis offers a plausible explanation for the known extension of the hybrid zone between the two species along the Guianas coastline."
By the same author: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World, Oxford University Press (2006).