Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas). Illustration and photo-reconstruction of a Stellar's sea cow eating laminaria in the shallow waters near an is

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Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas). Illustration and photo-reconstruction of a Stellar's sea cow eating laminaria in the shallow waters near an island where a sailboat is anchored. Steller's sea cow is an extinct marine mammal that reached 2 metres long and weighed 4 tonnes. It's small head smoothly passed into a huge trunk, which ended with a forked tail, resembling a whale's tail. As cetaceans Steller's sea cow has no hind pair of legs. It was found along the North Pacific coast. It was discovered by the naturalist Georg Steller in 1741 in the Bering Strait. However, by 1768 Steller's sea cow had been hunted to extinction for its skin, meat and blubber. This animal has no teeth because its main food was the larger marine algae and other aquatic plants.

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Size: 6496px × 4328px
Photo credit: © ROMAN UCHYTEL/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, aquatic, artwork, biological, biology, cetacean, composite, extinct, fauna, gigas, herbivore, herbivorous, hydrodamalis, illustration, mammal, marine, nature, pacific, sea, sirens, ss, steller, wildlife, zoological, zoology