According to legend, a shy marine creature that runs away at the first sight of a human is the source of the idea for mermaids.
It is a creature that is frequently mentioned in Southeast Asian folklore, where many cultures hold the opinion that it was formerly partially human, and many languages use a synonym for mermaid to describe it. It is referred to as the dugong by the general public.
Sea cows are dugongs. Elephants are their closest terrestrial relatives, according to Christopher Marshall, an associate professor of marine biology at Texas A&M University. “They are closely related to manatees. They are the only marine mammals that only consume seagrass and other aquatic plants, making them the only vegetarian marine mammals.
Although Marshall acknowledges that the comparison to mermaids may seem improbable, “that’s also what their scientific name refers to—they are members of the order “Sirenia,” and siren is another word for mermaid. Around them, there is a wealth of fascinating cultural mythology.
But not all of it is good. Their bodily parts, such as bones, tusks, and penises, are gathered for their alleged medical qualities. Their tears are marketed in bottles as aphrodisiacs or love potions. Tobacco holders are made from their teeth. Along with habitat loss, they have also been killed for meat and oil for thousands of years. This has significantly decreased their population. The dugong was listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1982, while the exact extent of the species’ population decline is unknown.
