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Camel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

 

Camels

Bactrian Camel, Camelus bactrianus

Bactrian Camel, Camelus bactrianus

Dromedary, Camelus dromedarius

Dromedary, Camelus dromedarius

Scientific classification

Kingdom:

Animalia

Phylum:

Chordata

Class:

Mammalia

Order:

Artiodactyla

Family:

Camelidae

Genus:

Camelus
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

Camelus bactrianus
Camelus dromedarius
Camelus gigas
Camelus hesternus
Camelus sivalensis

 

Camels are even-toed ungulates in the genus Camelus. The Dromedary or Arabian Camel has a single hump, and the Bactrian Camel has two humps. They are native to the dry and desert areas of Northern Africa and Asia, respectively. The average life expectancy of a camel is 30 to 50 years. The term camel is also used more broadly to describe any of the six camel-like creatures in the family Camelidae: the two true camels, and the four South American camelids: Llama, Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuña.

The name camel comes via the Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos) from the Hebrew gamal or Arabic "Jamal" .

Bactrian camels have two coats: the warm inner coat of down and a rough outer coat which is long and hairy. They shed their fiber in clumps consisting of both coats, which can be gathered and separated. They produce about 7 kg (15 lb) of fiber annually. The fiber structure is similar to cashmere wool. The down is usually 2 to 8 cm (1–3 inches) long. Camel down does not felt easily. The down is spun into yarn for knitting.

A fully-grown adult camel stands 1.85m/6 feet at the shoulder and 2.15m/7 feet at the hump. It can run up to 40mph in short bursts, and sustain speeds of up to 25mph.

Humans first domesticated camels between 3,500–3,000 years ago. The Dromedary and the Bactrian Camel are both still used for milk (which is more nutritious than cow's milk), meat, and as beasts of burden—the Dromedary in western Asia, and the Bactrian Camel further to the north and east in central Asia.

Distribution and numbers

 

Map of the world showing distribution of camelids, and the separation of camels (on the left) and Lamas (on the right). Solid black lines indicate possible migration routes.

 

Map of the world showing distribution of camelids, and the separation of camels (on the left) and Lamas (on the right). Solid black lines indicate possible migration routes.

Although there are almost 13 million Dromedaries alive today, the species is all but extinct in the wild, persisting mainly as domesticated animals (mostly in Sudan, Somalia, India and nearby countries), as well as South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

The ancestors of the camel actually evolved in North America roughly 45 million years ago, only crossing over to Asia (and from there into the Middle East and Africa) roughly 3 million years ago. Although various camel species were for a time one of the dominant animal groups in North America, they died out along with most of the North American megafauna some time after humans first appeared on the continent. According to Reuters, the recent discovery of a previously unknown giant dromedary camel species in central Syria, thought to be 100,000 years old, is leading scientists to reconsider traditional theories of modern camel origins.

The Bactrian Camel once had an enormous range, but is now reduced to an estimated 1.4 million animals, mostly domesticated. It is thought that there are about 1000 wild Bactrian Camels in the Gobi Desert, and small numbers in Iran, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan.

There is a substantial feral population estimated at up to 700,000 in central parts of Australia, descended from individuals introduced as means of transport in the 19th century and early 20th century. This population is growing at approximately 11% per year and in recent times the state government of South Australia has decided to cull the animals using aerial marksmen, because the camels use too much of the limited resources needed by sheep farmers. For more information, see Australian feral camel. A small population of introduced camels, Dromedaries and Bactrians, survived in the Southwest United States until the 1900s. These animals, imported from Turkey, were part of the US Camel Corps experiment and used as draft animals in mines, and escaped or were released after the project was terminated. Twenty-three Bactrian camels were brought to Canada during the Cariboo Gold Rush.

 

 

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Camel&action=history

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