TAMPA, Fla. — A new study from the University of South Florida suggests manatees may not be as native to Florida as once thought.

What You Need To Know

  • A recent study from USF suggests manatees may not be as native to Florida as once thought

  • Inspiration behind the study came after a lack of evidence for a large population of manatees in Florida’s pre-colonial era

  • Research involved analyzing animal bones belonging to manatees, once forgotten and fossilized

  • The study may help understand the future of manatees by looking at their population and migration patterns

Evidence for this theory comes from a research paper written by Thomas Pluckhahn — a professor of anthropology at USF. The research may provide a better understanding of not only the history of manatees, but where they’re going.

“Manatees are just really uncommon in the archaeological and archival records until the 1800s,” Pluckhahn said.

Pluckhahn has been an archaeologist for over 30 years. His most recent research has taken him to Native American sites dating from the past 2,000 years — including Crystal River, where manatees reign supreme.

“People think of them as important parts of the Florida landscape,” Pluckhahn said. “The difference between what we expect to find and what we’re not finding is what kind of stimulated me to look into this question.”

Pluckhahn found the inspiration for the study when he noticed a lack of evidence for a large population of manatees in Florida’s pre-colonial era. He theorizes that they only arrived in Florida 500 to 600 years ago, possibly migrating from the Caribbean. His research involved analyzing animal bones belonging to manatees — once forgotten and fossilized.

“We talk about how manatees expanded across Florida in the 1800s and 1900s as the climate started to warm up and as people created more habitat for them,” said Pluckhahn. “We think, maybe, looking at manatee populations at a finer, grain detail, maybe one way that this study could be beneficial.”

Pluckhahn believes the study helps understand the future of manatees by looking at their population and migration patterns — offering a solution for the future by looking to the past.

“We not only don’t understand the future, but we really don’t even understand the past very well. We need to understand how we’ve already impacted some of these species in order to understand how we can conserve them for the future,” he explained.

He hopes to ensure the threatened species lives on.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state’s current manatee population is between 8,000 and a little over 11,000.

In 2017, manatees were reclassified from endangered to threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act.