There are two types of camels, the dromedary camel with one hump and the bactrian camel with two humps. Dromedary camels are relatively tall and can walk and run in the desert. They can transport goods and carry people. Bactrian camels have stubby limbs and are better suited for walking on gravel and snow. Unlike other animals, camels are particularly resistant to hunger and thirst. People can ride camels across the desert, so camels are known as the "ships of the desert." Fat is stored in the camel's hump. When the camel cannot get food, this fat can be decomposed into the nutrients needed by the camel's body for the camel's survival needs. Camels can go without food for four or five days because of the fat in their humps. In addition, there are many small bottle-shaped bubbles in the camel's stomach, which are where the camel stores water. The water in these "bottles" means that the camel's life will not be in danger even if it does not drink water for several days.
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Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
< p> Class: MammaliaOrder: Artiodactyla
Family: Camelidae
Genus: Camelus Linnaeus
Species: Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus)
Single-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius)
Camels have hair in their ears to prevent wind and sand from entering; camels have double eyelids and thick The long eyelashes prevent wind and sand from entering the eyes; the camel's nose can also be closed freely.
These "equipments" make camels not afraid of wind and sand at all. The sand is soft, and it is easy for human feet to sink into it. However, camels have flat soles with thick and soft fleshy pads under their feet. Such soles allow camels to walk freely on the sand without sinking into the sand. The camel's fur is very thick, and the desert area is very cold in winter. The camel's fur is extremely powerful in maintaining body temperature. Camels are familiar with the climate in the desert. When strong winds are about to hit, they will kneel down, so travelers can prepare in advance. Camels move slowly but can carry a lot of things. It is an important means of transportation in the desert. People regard it as a ship crossing the desert sea, and it is known as the "Ship of the Desert".
Living in North America 10 million years ago, its distant ancestors crossed the Bering Strait to Asia and Africa, and evolved into Bactrian camels and single-humped camels domesticated by humans. The Bactrian camel's hump can store 40 kilograms of fat. When it is hot and dehydrated, the fat will be broken down into the nutrients and water the camel needs. Camels can drink more than 100 liters of water in 10 minutes. At the same time, they have little drainage. They only urinate about one liter a day in summer. Moreover, they only start to sweat when their body temperature is about 40 degrees and do not open their mouths easily. These make camels very uncomfortable. He can survive in the desert for 8 days without drinking water without dying of thirst. In addition, when mammals generally lose too much water in their body, they need to extract water from their own blood to replenish it. However, this will thicken the blood, reduce the circulation speed, and lead to heat stroke due to metabolic dysfunction. Camels use water in their muscles to balance this. Camel's feet have thick pads and their toes are spread apart when walking, which ensures that they can walk in the desert without sinking into the sand. They have long eyelashes, nostrils that open and close automatically, and ears covered with dense hair, which can protect them from wind and sand. The mating season for Bactrian camels is in January and February, while for dromedary camels it is during the rainy season, when males become aggressive. The gestation period for dromedary camels is 12 months, the gestation period for Bactrian camels is 13 months, and the lactation period is 3-4 months. Young camels are very strong from birth and can follow their mother everywhere in a day. Bactrian camels form small groups and can eat any plant. They migrate north and south in the distribution area in spring and autumn. Wild camels are very rare and are listed as a national first-level protected animal.
Camel is the collective name for two large ruminant mammals of the genus Camel in the family Camelidae, order Artiodactylus, which are divided into dromedary and bactrian camels. The single-humped camel has only one hump, while the Bactrian camel, also known as the Bactrian camel, has two humps. Camels have long limbs and soft, wide feet, suitable for walking on sand or snow. There are horny pads on the chest and knees to support the body when kneeling. It exhibits a unique gait when running, with the front and rear limbs on the same side moving simultaneously. Having two rows of eyelashes to protect the eyes, hair in the ear holes, the ability to close the nostrils, and a keen sense of vision and smell all help to adapt to windy deserts and other adverse environments. Camels that are properly trained and managed have a docile temperament, but they can get angry easily, especially when they are in heat. When angry, it spits saliva, bites, and kicks people, which is very dangerous. Camels are native to North America, about 40 million years ago. Later, its distribution range expanded to South America and Asia, and disappeared in its origin. Camels have traditionally been used as important pack animals. Although the Bactrian camel travels only at a speed of 3 to 5 kilometers per hour, it can carry heavy loads for a long time and can cover up to 50 kilometers a day. The dromedary has longer legs and can maintain a speed of 13 to 16 kilometers per hour for 18 hours when riding. Camels can live on the roughest parts of sparse vegetation and can eat thorny plants, shrubs, leaves and hay that other animals do not eat, but if better food is available, they will happily eat it. Camels store fat in their humps when food is plentiful and draw on this reserve when conditions are harsh. The fat in the hump is not only used as a source of nutrition, but also produces water through oxidation of the fat.
Therefore, camels can go without food and water for several days. According to records, a camel once survived without water for 17 days. Camels lose water slowly and can dehydrate up to 25% of their body weight without adverse effects. Camels can drink 100 liters of water in one breath and regain their lost weight within minutes. Because of these characteristics of camels, people call them ships of the desert. In winter, camels grow fluffy, coarse hair. In spring, the coarse hair falls off, leaving the body almost naked until new hair begins to grow. Each time a female camel gives birth to a calf, the lactation period lasts for one year. The lifespan of a camel is 30 to 40 years.
Distribution number
Although there are still about 13 million dromedary camels alive today, the wild species are on the verge of extinction. Dromedary camels used for livestock are mainly found in Sudan, Somalia, India and nearby countries, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.
The traditional theory is that the ancestors of modern camels lived in North America 45 million years ago. They may have been huge and had no toes. They crossed to Asia about 3 million years ago and then reached the Middle East and Africa. Although camels once dominated North America, they disappeared along with most other species that once lived in the Americas not long after humans appeared on the continent. However, according to Reuters, an unknown giant dromedary recently discovered in central Syria is thought to have lived 100,000 years ago, causing scientists to re-examine the origin theory of modern camels.
Bactrian camels were once widely distributed, but now there are only about 14 million left, mainly domestic animals. There are currently an estimated 1,000 wild Bactrian camels living in the Gobi Desert, with a smaller number living in Iran, Afghanistan, and Kazakhstan.
There are an estimated 700,000 feral camels in central Australia, descendants of camels introduced for transportation purposes in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The population is increasing at about 11% a year and the South Australian government has decided to kill the camels using aerial shooting as they encroach on the limited resources needed to raise sheep. A small number of introduced dromedary and bactrian camels survived in the southwestern United States into the 20th century. Introduced from Turkey, they were once part of the American Camel Corps experiments and were used as mine pack animals. The camels escaped or were released after the project ended. An additional 23 Bactrian camels were introduced to Canada during the gold rush.
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Mixed-breed camel
The Bactrian camel has two humps and is an animal suitable for cold climates. The dromedary has only one hump and is more suitable for desert life. The hybrid is larger than both camels, has a hump, and is good at carrying things. Female hybrids can mate with male Bactrian camels and give birth to offspring. Such hybrid camels can be seen in Kazakhstan. A man-made cross between a camel and an alpaca became the Cama, and scientists wanted to experiment to see how similar the two species were. Dromedaries weigh six times more than llamas, so artificial insemination is required to impregnate female vicu?as. However, the pregnancy test for female dromedary camels was not successful. The hybrid is even smaller than the llama, has short ears and a long tail like a camel, has no hump, and has split toes like an alpaca instead of the large feet of a camel. Kama becomes sexually mature after the age of 4 and is interested in female llamas and guanacos. Later, a female Kama was born through artificial insemination. Because both camels and llamas have 74 chromosomes, scientists expected female kama to be fertile. If successful, it means that it is possible to increase the size, meat and wool production, and carrying capacity of South American camels. Kama appears to have inherited the temperament of its parents and shows links between camelid species from the Old and New Worlds.
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What is in the camel’s hump?
Anatomy has confirmed that the camel’s hump stores fat deposits, not a water bag. The metabolic water produced after the fat is oxidized can meet the needs of the camel's life activities. Therefore, some people believe that the hump actually stores "solid water". It has been determined that 1g of fat produces 1.1g of metabolic water after oxidation, and a 45kg hump is equivalent to 50kg of metabolic water. But in fact, fat metabolism cannot be without the participation of oxygen, and during the breathing process of absorbing oxygen, water loss from the lungs is comparable to that of fat metabolism. This fact shows that Luofeng does not function as a solid water storage at all, but is just a huge energy storage, which provides material guarantee for the energy consumption of camels traveling long distances in the desert.
The rumen of the camel is divided into several blind sacs by muscle blocks, which are the so-called "water sacs". Some people think that after a camel drinks water at once, it stores a lot of water in its stomach so that it does not feel thirsty. In fact, those water bladders can only store 5 to 6 liters of water, and they are mixed with fermented feed and form a viscous green juice. The concentration of salt in these green juices is about the same as blood, making it difficult for camels to utilize the water in their stomachs. Furthermore, the water bladder cannot be effectively separated from the rest of the rumen and is too small to form an effective water reservoir. From an anatomical observation, except for the hump and stomach, there are no specialized organs for water storage. Therefore, it can be concluded that camels do not have water reservoirs.
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Service performance
The camel’s service performance is one of its main production properties. It can be used for riding, Packaging, pulling carts, plowing, etc.
Package transportation
(1) Riding Camels are the main riding tool in desert and semi-desert areas, especially desert areas. They have also been widely used for desert inspections and other work.
Although camels are not good at running, they have long legs, long and brisk strides, strong endurance, and the special structure of their hooves. Therefore, they are suitable as important means of transportation in the desert. When riding short distances, the speed of Bactrian camels can reach 10 to 15 kilometers per hour. When riding long distances, they can travel 30 to 35 kilometers per day. my country's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has held camel racing games, and camel racing events have also been held at ethnic minority sports meetings. The Alxa camel 5,000-meter time was 3 minutes and 58 seconds.
(2) When pack transport transports materials in deserts, Gobis, hydrochloric acid fields, mountains and grasslands with deep snow, other means of transportation are often difficult to play, and camels are the most important in these areas. Pack animals play a role that cannot be replaced by other domestic animals and means of transportation. Therefore, it is also widely used in exploration, scientific investigation, transportation and other work in desert areas. Camels can still carry on transportation even when the weather is harsh and the supply of water and grass is insufficient. Generally speaking, the carrying weight of a Bactrian camel is about 33.8% to 43.1% of its body weight, that is, 100 to 200 kilograms. During short-distance transportation, it can carry 250 to 300 kilograms, and the journey can reach 30 to 35 kilometers per day.
A single-peaked piggyback for pack use is generally thicker and heavier than a riding pack, with a speed of about 2 to 3 kilometers per hour and a load of 165 to 220 kilograms.
(3) Drawing Camels can be used for plowing land, pulling carts, pumping water, etc. According to reports, when a Bactrian camel pulls a cart, 2 packs per cart can pull 1.5 to 1.8 tons; when performing farm work, a single set of step plows plows for 5 hours a day, and the cultivated land is 3333 square meters (5 acres): double sets of double plows The plow can cultivate 4,667 square meters (7 acres) of land per day, and can reach a maximum of 9,333 square meters (14 acres). According to measurements, the maximum pulling force of a camel is 369 kilograms, equivalent to 80% of its own weight, while that of the Sanhe horse is 321 kilograms and that of the Qinchuan ox is 312.5 kilograms.
The situation of dromedary camels is basically similar to that of Bactrian camels. According to reports, in South Africa, a camel pulls a two-wheeled vehicle with a load of up to 750 kilograms. In agriculture, dromedary camels are also widely used in farmland operations, and are often paired with cattle, horses and other animals.