#ENVIRONMENT ■ ‘Sea Cow’ that evoked mermaids extinct: Study- | UPSC Environment Ecology PSIR

#ENVIRONMENT

■ ‘Sea Cow’ that evoked mermaids extinct: Study-

Dugong, a species of ‘sea cow’ that roams the ocean floor in Asia and Africa, has not been spotted off China's southern coast for centuries.

● New Findings:

Dugong has become the first large vertebrate to go functionally extinct in China's coastal waters.

It is the result of a rapid population collapse there that began in the mid-1970s.

“Functional extinction” means that even if some dugongs are alive off China's coast, their numbers are too small to maintain a viable population.

●  Prelims takeaway:

Dugong

Functional Extinction

SOURCE - INDIAN EXPRESS