Scientific classification: Camels belong to the family Camelidae, which also includes llamas, alpacas, guanacos, and vicuñas. Camels make up the genus Camelus.
Introduction
The Camel is a large cud-chewing mammal with one or two humps on the back, found in the arid regions of Africa, Asia, and Australia. Camels originated in North America but became extinct there about 11,000 years ago. Desert-dwelling people in Asia domesticated the camel more than 3,000 years ago. Since then, people have relied on the camel as a means of transportation and a source of milk, meat, wool, and hides. where do camels live, often called the “ship of the desert,” the camel is known for its incredible endurance as a pack animal. The camel is unrivaled among mammals in its ability to survive for long periods of time without food and water. The fatty humps on the camel’s back provide nutrition when no food is available.
Types of Camel
There are two types of camels: the Arabian camel (also known as the dromedary), with one hump, and the Bactrian camel, with two humps. They are native to the arid regions of North Africa and Asia, where do camels live, including the Middle East and Arabia. The Arabian and Bactrian camels can interbreed, producing hybrid offspring.
Arabian camels
Arabian camels make up about 90 percent of the estimated 20 million camels in the world. Domesticated Arabian camels are found throughout North Africa and South and Southwest Asia, with the largest populations in Somalia, Sudan, and India. The only significant population of feral Arabian camels lives in Australia, where do camels live. They descended from domesticated camels that were imported to the continent.
Bactrian Camels
The native range of the Bactrian camel extends over the dry steppes and semidesert of Central Asia to Mongolia. Most of the estimated 2 million domesticated Bactrians live in Mongolia and China. Wild Bactrian camels live only in the Gobi of southwestern Mongolia and in the Takla Makan desert and the Lop Nur area of northwestern China. where do camels live, Fewer than 950 Bactrian camels remain in the wild, making them even more rare than the giant panda. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists them as critically endangered.
Physical Description
The camel is classified as an ungulate (hoofed mammal). However, the camel’s broad, two-toed feet are not encased in horny hooves like other ungulates, such as cattle and deer. The soles of a camel’s feet have thick, leathery pads that spread when the animal walks, preventing it from sinking in soft sand and snow. The camel has a long, curved neck and an elongated head. Its slitlike nostrils can be almost completely closed, and the hairy lining filters out sand and dust during a desert storm. where do camels live, A deep groove from the nostrils to the upper cleft lip allows the mouth to capture any moisture from the nostrils. A double row of long, thick eyelashes shields the animal’s eyes from flying particles of grit and sand. A pad of connective tissue on the chest and thick knee pads provide protection from the hot sand when the camel is lying down.
Camels and Humans
Historically, camels were used in caravans traveling the ancient trading routes across Asia known as the Silk Road. The rapid spread of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries owed much to camel caravans, which traversed previously impenetrable regions in Arabia, the Middle East, and Saharan Africa, where do camels live. Camels were also used in combat and for other military purposes from ancient times to as recently as the 1960s.