What special adaptations do manatees have that that allow them to stay under water longer than the average land-dwelling mammal?

Answer 1

. Manatees, like other aquatic mammals, do most of their feeding underwater and must be able to hold their breath long enough to feed efficiently. Aquatic mammals have a number of adaptations that allow them to stay under water longer than the average land-dwelling mammal. Both the lungs and diaphragm of a manatee extend the length of the body cavity and so are oriented in the same horizontal plane as the manatee in the water. This arrangement is important for buoyancy control. An unusual anatomical feature of sirenians is that each lung is in a separate cavity. Instead of one diaphragm like people, manatees have separate "hemi-diaphragms." Besides breathing, the lungs help the manatee with buoyancy control. Manatees replace a large percentage of air in their lungs with each breath and can therefore prolong intervals between breaths. In fact, studies have shown that manatees can renew about 90% of the air in their lungs in a single breath as compared to humans at rest who generally renew about 10%

Answer 2

. Manatees, like other aquatic mammals, do most of their feeding underwater and must be able to hold their breath long enough to feed efficiently. Aquatic mammals have a number of adaptations that allow them to stay under water longer than the average land-dwelling mammal. Both the lungs and diaphragm of a manatee extend the length of the body cavity and so are oriented in the same horizontal plane as the manatee in the water. This arrangement is important for buoyancy control. An unusual anatomical feature of sirenians is that each lung is in a separate cavity. Instead of one diaphragm like people, manatees have separate "hemi-diaphragms." Besides breathing, the lungs help the manatee with buoyancy control. Manatees replace a large percentage of air in their lungs with each breath and can therefore prolong intervals between breaths. In fact, studies have shown that manatees can renew about 90% of the air in their lungs in a single breath as compared to humans at rest who generally renew about 10%

Answer 3

It's an acquired habit of the manatee and possibly large lungs relative to size. They still have to surface to breath every 7-10 minutes. Many humans can and do remain underwater for up to 5-6 minutes after long practice.

Answer 4

nothing