I am a cow, but I'm not white or black.
I have 2 legs in front but no legs in back.
Look at my back end, you'll see it is round.
For long periods of time I can stay off the ground.

What am I?

I know I am posting a comment to a problem with a solution already posted. My “guess” was independent of knowing the given solution, but I wish to express a more thorough explanation to why my “guess” and the given solution is correct.

A cow is a term that may be used to identify a mature female of many groups of mammals. The term is most commonly recognized for the bovine, but elephants, some deer (elk, caribou, and moose), cetaceans (whale, dolphin and porpoise) and other marine mammals such as the manatee and walrus also identify the female as a cow.

Marine mammals do stay for long periods off the ground, with the cetaceans spending it all in the open sea. The forelegs of the marine mammals are called flippers. For the cetaceans their tails are known as flukes – two flattened blade-like appendages; a walrus has two triangular shaped hind flippers; and, the manatee’s tail is a rounded appendage called a paddle.

The color of marine mammals tend to be a light to dark gray. Though albinos are know to have been seen, it is the exception not the rule. Therefore, the answer to the question is the manatee (aka sea cow).

Posted by Dej Mar on 2006-04-30 19:52:44