# Amazonian manatee (*Trichechus inunguis*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/amazonian-manatee  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), also called the Amazon manatee or South American manatee, is a mammal of the order Sirenia and the family Trichechidae. It is a giant herbivore with a representative adult body mass of 480 kg, and it has a marine lifestyle and a cathemeral activity pattern. The species is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, an IUCN threatened category, and its lifespan is given as 30 years, with values up to 40.17 years.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 294 kg – 480 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 30 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 40.2 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 328 days – 426 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Age at maturity | 3 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.5 |
| Active | Day and night (cathemeral) |
| Lifestyle | Marine |
| Conservation status | Vulnerable (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Sirenia
- family: Trichechidae
- genus: Trichechus
- species: *Trichechus inunguis* (Natterer, 1883)

Synonyms: *Manatus australis*, *Manatus exunguis*, *Manatus inunguis*, *Trichechus australis*, *Trichecus inunguis*

## Common questions

### How heavy is the amazonian manatee?

The amazonian manatee has a representative adult body mass of 480 kg. The lowest adult body mass reported by sources is 294 kg.

### What does the amazonian manatee eat?

The amazonian manatee is a herbivore.

### Is the amazonian manatee endangered?

The amazonian manatee is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is an IUCN threatened category.

### How long does the amazonian manatee live?

The lifespan of the amazonian manatee is given as 30 years, with values up to 40.17 years reported.

### What kind of animal is the amazonian manatee?

The amazonian manatee is a mammal of the order Sirenia and the family Trichechidae.

### How many young does the amazonian manatee have?

The amazonian manatee has 1 young per litter and 0.5 litters per year, after a gestation period of 328 days.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/amazonian-manatee