: an aquatic, herbivorous, usually brownish-gray mammal (Dugong dugon) that inhabits warm coastal waters chiefly of southern Asia, Australia, and eastern Africa and resembles the related manatee but differs in having a notched tail divided into two lobes and upper incisors which grow into small tusks in the male
Note:
The dugong commonly attains a length of 8 feet (2.4 meters) or more. It is the sole living species in its taxonomic family (Dugongidae) which also includes the extinct Steller's sea cow and various sirenians known only from fossilized remains.
Illustration of dugong
Examples of dugong in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebIn a separate find, a different tiger shark that the team had previously tagged, threw up what appeared to be half a dugong.—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 6 June 2024 There’s no reliable method yet to convert the number of feeding trails to the number of dugongs, but Cossa estimates that as many as 10 or even 20 dugongs now graze in Maputo Bay.—Danna Staaf, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Feb. 2024 Meanwhile, indiscriminate fishing tools such as gill nets ensnare and drown dugongs.—Danna Staaf, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Feb. 2024 Australia is home to the world’s largest dugong population, and they are legally protected by all states and the nation’s federal government.—Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Sep. 2023 Because seagrasses are highly sensitive to changes in water quality, dugongs are also easily affected by environmental changes.—Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Sep. 2023 Last year, scientists reported that dugongs are functionally extinct in China.—Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Sep. 2023 Other animals – particularly turtles, dugongs, and dolphins – can become entangled in the nets and drown.—Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Aug. 2023 Some believe that aquatic mammals such as manatees and dugongs inspired mermaid legends.—Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 24 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dugong.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
New Latin, genus name, probably from dugung in Cebuano or a related Austronesian language of the central Philippines
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