sea cow

sea cow

n.

Any of several large, cylindrical, herbivorous marine mammals of the order Sirenia, having a paddlelike tail and rounded front flippers, including the manatee, dugong, and the very large species Hydrodamalis stelleri of the northern Pacific that became extinct in the late 1700s. Also called sirenian.

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sea cow

n

1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Animals) any sirenian mammal, such as a dugong or manatee

2. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Animals) an archaic name for walrus

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

sea cow - any of two families of large herbivorous aquatic mammals with paddle-shaped tails and flipper-like forelimbs and no hind limbs sirenian, sirenian mammal aquatic mammal - whales and dolphins; manatees and dugongs; walruses; seals order Sirenia, Sirenia - an animal order including: manatees; dugongs; Steller's sea cow manatee, Trichechus manatus - sirenian mammal of tropical coastal waters of America; the flat tail is rounded dugong, Dugong dugon - sirenian tusked mammal found from eastern Africa to Australia; the flat tail is bilobate Hydrodamalis gigas, Steller's sea cow - extinct large sirenian mammal formerly found near the Asiatic coast of the Bering Sea