Camels
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Bactrian Camel, Camelus
bactrianus Dromedary, Camelus
dromedarius |
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Scientific classification |
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Species |
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Camelus bactrianus |
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.
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
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html