Okay kiddo, so you know what a manatee is, right? It's a big, slow-moving animal that lives in the water and eats plants. Well, a dwarf manatee is just like a regular manatee, but smaller.
Now, why are they smaller? Well, scientists think that maybe they evolved to be smaller because they lived in a place where there wasn't as much food or space as there was for other manatees. It's kind of like how if you live in a small house, you might not grow as tall as you would if you lived in a big house with lots of room to stretch out.
But even though they're smaller, dwarf manatees are still really important. They help keep the ecosystem in balance by eating lots of plants and providing food for other animals. Plus, they're really cute!