A camel (from: Latin: camelus and Greek: κάμηλος (kamēlos) from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל gāmāl.[7][8]) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide food (milk and meat) and textiles (fiber and felt from hair). Camels are working animals especially suited to their desert habitat and are a vital means of transport for passengers and cargo. There are three surviving species of camel. The one-humped dromedary makes up 94% of the world's camel population, and the two-humped Bactrian camel makes up 6%. The wild Bactrian camel is a separate species and is now critically endangered.
The word camel is also used informally in a wider sense, where the more correct term is "camelid", to include all seven species of the family Camelidae: the true camels (the above three species), along with the "New World" camelids: the llama, the alpaca, the guanaco, and the vicuña, which belong to the separate tribe Lamini.[9] Camelids originated in North America during the Eocene, with the ancestor of modern camels, Paracamelus, migrating across the Bering land bridge into Asia during the late Miocene, around 6 million years ago.
The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years.[12] A full-grown adult dromedary camel stands 1.85m (6ft 1in) at the shoulder and 2.15m (7ft 1in) at the hump.[13] Bactrian camels can be a foot taller. Camels can run at up to 65km/h (40mph) in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40km/h (25mph).[14] Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000kg (660 to 2,200lb) and dromedaries 300 to 600kg (660 to 1,320lb). The widening toes on a camel's hoof provide supplemental grip for varying soil sediments.[15]
The male dromedary camel has an organ called a dulla in its throat, a large, inflatable sac that it extrudes from its mouth when in rut to assert dominance and attract females. It resembles a long, swollen, pink tongue hanging out of the side of the camel's mouth.[16] Camels mate by having both male and female sitting on the ground, with the male mounting from behind.[17] The male usually ejaculates three or four times within a single mating session.[18] Camelids are the only ungulates to mate in a sitting position.[19]
Ecological and behavioral adaptations
Camels do not directly store water in their humps; they are reservoirs of fatty tissue. When this tissue is metabolized, it yields more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration (as oxygen is required for the metabolic process): overall, there is a net decrease in water.[20][21]
A camel's thick coat is one of its many adaptations that aid it in desert-like conditions.A camel in Somalia, which has the world's largest camel population.
Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water.[23] The dromedary camel can drink as seldom as once every 10 days even under very hot conditions, and can lose up to 30% of its body mass due to dehydration.[24] Unlike other mammals, camels' red blood cells are oval rather than circular in shape. This facilitates the flow of red blood cells during dehydration[25] and makes them better at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water: a 600kg (1,300lb) camel can drink 200L (53USgal) of water in three minutes.[26][27][failed verification]
Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water consumption that would kill most other mammals. Their temperature ranges from 34°C (93°F) at dawn and steadily increases to 40°C (104°F) by sunset, before they cool off at night again.[23] In general, to compare between camels and the other livestock, camels lose only 1.3 liters of fluid intake every day while the other livestock lose 20 to 40 liters per day.[28] Maintaining the brain temperature within certain limits is critical for animals; to assist this, camels have a rete mirabile, a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other which utilizes countercurrent blood flow to cool blood flowing to the brain.[29] Camels rarely sweat, even when ambient temperatures reach 49°C (120°F).[30] Any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat; the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat. Camels can withstand losing 25% of their body weight in water, whereas most other mammals can withstand only about 12–14% dehydration before cardiac failure results from circulatory disturbance.[27]
When the camel exhales, water vapor becomes trapped in their nostrils and is reabsorbed into the body as a means to conserve water.[31] Camels eating green herbage can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to maintain their bodies' hydrated state without the need for drinking.[32]
Domesticated camel calves lying in sternal recumbency, a position that aids heat loss
The camel's thick coat insulates it from the intense heat radiated from desert sand; a shorn camel must sweat 50% more to avoid overheating.[33] During the summer the coat becomes lighter in color, reflecting light as well as helping avoid sunburn.[27] The camel's long legs help by keeping its body farther from the ground, which can heat up to 70°C (158°F).[34][35] Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called the pedestal. When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the hot surface and allows cooling air to pass under the body.[29]
Camels' mouths have a thick leathery lining, allowing them to chew thorny desert plants. Long eyelashes and ear hairs, together with nostrils that can close, form a barrier against sand. If sand gets lodged in their eyes, they can dislodge it using their translucent third eyelid (also known as the nictitating membrane). The camels' gait and widened feet help them move without sinking into the sand.[34][36]
The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camels' kidneys have a 1:4 cortex to medulla ratio.[37] Thus, the medullary part of a camel's kidney occupies twice as much area as a cow's kidney. Secondly, renal corpuscles have a smaller diameter, which reduces surface area for filtration. These two major anatomical characteristics enable camels to conserve water and limit the volume of urine in extreme desert conditions.[38]Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup, and camel faeces are so dry that they do not require drying when used to fuel fires.[39][40][41][42]
The camel immune system differs from those of other mammals. Normally, the Y-shaped antibody molecules consist of two heavy (or long) chains along the length of the Y, and two light (or short) chains at each tip of the Y.[43] Camels, in addition to these, also have antibodies made of only two heavy chains, a trait that makes them smaller and more durable.[43] These "heavy-chain-only" antibodies, discovered in 1993, are thought to have developed 50million years ago, after camelids split from ruminants and pigs.[43] Camels suffer from surra caused by Trypanosoma evansi wherever camels are domesticated in the world,[44]:2 and resultantly camels have evolved trypanolytic antibodies as with many mammals. In the future, nanobody/single-domain antibody therapy will surpass natural camel antibodies by reaching locations currently unreachable due to natural antibodies' larger size.[45]:788 Such therapies may also be suitable for other mammals.[45]:788 Tran et al. 2009 provides a new reference test for surra (T. evansi) of camel.[46] They use recombinantInvariant Surface Glycoprotein 75 (rISG75, an Invariant Surface Glycoprotein) and ELISA.[46] The Tran test has high test specificity and appears likely to work just as well for T. evansi in other hosts, and for a pan-Trypanozoon test, which would also be useful for T. b. brucei, T. b. gambiense, T. b. rhodesiense, and T. equiperdum.[46]
Genetics
The karyotypes of different camelid species have been studied earlier by many groups,[47][48][49][50][51][52] but no agreement on chromosome nomenclature of camelids has been reached. A 2007 study flow sorted camel chromosomes, building on the fact that camels have 37 pairs of chromosomes (2n=74), and found that the karyotype consisted of one metacentric, three submetacentric, and 32 acrocentric autosomes. The Y is a small metacentric chromosome, while the X is a large metacentric chromosome.[53]
The hybrid camel, a hybrid between Bactrian and dromedary camels, has one hump, though it has an indentation 4–12cm (1.6–4.7in) deep that divides the front from the back. The hybrid is 2.15m (7ft 1in) at the shoulder and 2.32m (7ft 7in) tall at the hump. It weighs an average of 650kg (1,430lb) and can carry around 400 to 450kg (880 to 990lb), which is more than either the dromedary or Bactrian can.[54]
According to molecular data, the wild Bactrian camel (C. ferus) separated from the domestic Bactrian camel (C. bactrianus) about 1 million years ago.[55][56] New World and Old World camelids diverged about 11 million years ago.[57] In spite of this, these species can hybridize and produce viable offspring.[58] The cama is a camel-llama hybrid bred by scientists to see how closely related the parent species are.[59] Scientists collected semen from a camel via an artificial vagina and inseminated a llama after stimulating ovulation with gonadotrophin injections.[60] The cama is halfway in size between a camel and a llama and lacks a hump. It has ears intermediate between those of camels and llamas, longer legs than the llama, and partially cloven hooves.[61][62] Like the mule, camas are sterile, despite both parents having the same number of chromosomes.[60]
Evolution
The earliest known camel, called Protylopus, lived in North America 40 to 50 million years ago (during the Eocene).[18] It was about the size of a rabbit and lived in the open woodlands of what is now South Dakota.[63][64] By 35 million years ago, the Poebrotherium was the size of a goat and had many more traits similar to camels and llamas.[65][66] The hoofed Stenomylus, which walked on the tips of its toes, also existed around this time, and the long-necked Aepycamelus evolved in the Miocene.[67]
The ancestor of modern camels, Paracamelus, migrated into Eurasia from North America via Beringia during the late Miocene, between 7.5 and 6.5 million years ago.[68][69][70] During the Pleistocene, around 3 to 1 million years ago, the North American Camelidae spread to South America as part of the Great American Interchange via the newly formed Isthmus of Panama, where they gave rise to guanacos and related animals.[18][63][64] Populations of Paracamelus continued to exist in the North American Arctic into the Early Pleistocene.[71][72] This creature is estimated to have stood around nine feet (2.7 metres) tall. The Bactrian camel diverged from the dromedary about 1 million years ago, according to the fossil record.[73]
Like horses, camels originated in North America and eventually spread across Beringia to Asia. They survived in the Old World, and eventually humans domesticated them and spread them globally. Along with many other megafauna in North America, the original wild camels were wiped out during the spread of the first indigenous peoples of the Americas from Asia into North America, 10 to 12,000 years ago; although fossils have never been associated with definitive evidence of hunting.[74][75]
When humans first domesticated camels is disputed. Dromedaries may have first been domesticated by humans in Somalia or South Arabia sometime during the 3rd millennium BC, the Bactrian in central Asia around 2,500BC,[18][77][78][79] as at Shar-i Sokhta (also known as the Burnt City), Iran.[80]
Martin Heide's 2010 work on the domestication of the camel tentatively concludes that humans had domesticated the Bactrian camel by at least the middle of the third millennium somewhere east of the Zagros Mountains, with the practice then moving into Mesopotamia. Heide suggests that mentions of camels "in the patriarchal narratives may refer, at least in some places, to the Bactrian camel", while noting that the camel is not mentioned in relationship to Canaan.[81] Heide and Joris Peters reaserted that conclusion in their 2021 study on the subject.[82]
In 2009-2013, excavations in the Timna Valley by Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef discovered what may be the earliest domestic camel bones yet found in Israel or even outside the Arabian Peninsula, dating to around 930BC. This garnered considerable media coverage, as it is strong evidence that the stories of Abraham, Jacob, Esau, and Joseph were written after this time.[83][84]
The existence of camels in Mesopotamia—but not in the eastern Mediterranean lands—is not a new idea. The historian Richard Bulliet did not think that the occasional mention of camels in the Bible meant that the domestic camels were common in the Holy Land at that time.[85] The archaeologist William F. Albright, writing even earlier, saw camels in the Bible as an anachronism.[86]
The official report by Sapir-Hen and Ben-Joseph notes:
The introduction of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) as a pack animal to the southern Levant ... substantially facilitated trade across the vast deserts of Arabia, promoting both economic and social change (e.g., Kohler 1984; Borowski 1998: 112–116; Jasmin 2005). This ... has generated extensive discussion regarding the date of the earliest domestic camel in the southern Levant (and beyond) (e.g., Albright 1949: 207; Epstein 1971: 558–584; Bulliet 1975; Zarins 1989; Köhler-Rollefson 1993; Uerpmann and Uerpmann 2002; Jasmin 2005; 2006; Heide 2010; Rosen and Saidel 2010; Grigson 2012). Most scholars today agree that the dromedary was exploited as a pack animal sometime in the early Iron Age (not before the 12th century [BC])
and concludes:
Current data from copper smelting sites of the Aravah Valley enable us to pinpoint the introduction of domestic camels to the southern Levant more precisely based on stratigraphic contexts associated with an extensive suite of radiocarbon dates. The data indicate that this event occurred not earlier than the last third of the 10th century [BC] and most probably during this time. The coincidence of this event with a major reorganization of the copper industry of the region—attributed to the results of the campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I—raises the possibility that the two were connected, and that camels were introduced as part of the efforts to improve efficiency by facilitating trade.[84]
Desert tribes and Mongolian nomads use camel hair for tents, yurts, clothing, bedding and accessories. Camels have outer guard hairs and soft inner down, and the fibers are sorted[by whom?] by color and age of the animal. The guard hairs can be felted for use as waterproof coats for the herdsmen, while the softer hair is used for premium goods.[87] The fiber can be spun for use in weaving or made into yarns for hand knitting or crochet. Pure camel hair is recorded as being used for western garments from the 17th century onwards, and from the 19th century a mixture of wool and camel hair was used.[88]
By at least 1200BC the first camel saddles had appeared, and Bactrian camels could be ridden. The first saddle was positioned to the back of the camel, and control of the Bactrian camel was exercised by means of a stick. However, between 500 and 100BC, Bactrian camels came into military use. New saddles, which were inflexible and bent, were put over the humps and divided the rider's weight over the animal. In the seventh century BC the military Arabian saddle evolved, which again improved the saddle design slightly.[89][90]
Military forces have used camel cavalries in wars throughout Africa, the Middle East, and into the modern-day Border Security Force (BSF) of India (though as of July 2012, the BSF planned the replacement of camels with ATVs). The first documented use of camel cavalries occurred in the Battle of Qarqar in 853BC.[91][92][93] Armies have also used camels as freight animals instead of horses and mules.[94][95]
The East Roman Empire used auxiliary forces known as dromedarii, whom the Romans recruited in desert provinces.[96][97] The camels were used mostly in combat because of their ability to scare off horses at close range (horses are afraid of the camels' scent),[19] a quality famously employed by the Achaemenid Persians when fighting Lydia in the Battle of Thymbra (547BC).[54][98][99]
The United States Army established the U.S. Camel Corps, stationed in California, in the 19th century.[19] One may still see stables at the Benicia Arsenal in Benicia, California, where they nowadays serve as the Benicia Historical Museum.[100] Though the experimental use of camels was seen as a success (John B. Floyd, Secretary of War in 1858, recommended that funds be allocated towards obtaining a thousand more camels), the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 saw the end of the Camel Corps: Texas became part of the Confederacy, and most of the camels were left to wander away into the desert.[95]
France created a méhariste camel corps in 1912 as part of the Armée d'Afrique in the Sahara[101] in order to exercise greater control over the camel-riding Tuareg and Arab insurgents, as previous efforts to defeat them on foot had failed.[102] The Free French Camel Corps fought during World War II, and camel-mounted units remained in service until the end of French rule over Algeria in 1962.[103]
In 1916, the British created the Imperial Camel Corps. It was originally used to fight the Senussi, but was later used in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. The Imperial Camel Corps comprised infantrymen mounted on camels for movement across desert, though they dismounted at battle sites and fought on foot. After July 1918, the Corps began to become run down, receiving no new reinforcements, and was formally disbanded in 1919.[104]
In World War I, the British Army also created the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps, which consisted of a group of Egyptian camel drivers and their camels. The Corps supported British war operations in Sinai, Palestine, and Syria by transporting supplies to the troops.[105][106][107]
Bactrian camels were used by Romanian forces during World War II in the Caucasian region.[109] At the same period the Soviet units operating around Astrakhan in 1942 adopted local camels as draft animals due to shortage of trucks and horses, and kept them even after moving out of the area. Despite severe losses, some of these camels ended up as far west as to Berlin itself.[110]
The Tropas Nómadas (Nomad Troops) were an auxiliary regiment of Sahrawi tribesmen serving in the colonial army in Spanish Sahara (today Western Sahara). Operational from the 1930s until the end of the Spanish presence in the territory in 1975, the Tropas Nómadas were equipped with small arms and led by Spanish officers. The unit guarded outposts and sometimes conducted patrols on camelback.[112][113]
21st century competition
At the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, in Saudi Arabia, thousands of camels are paraded and are judged on their lips and humps. The festival also features camel racing and camel milk tasting and has combined prize money of $57m (£40m). In 2018, 12 camels were disqualified from the beauty contest after it was discovered their owners had tried to improve their camel's good looks with injections of botox, into the animals' lips, noses and jaws.[114] In 2021 over 40 camels were disqualified for acts of tampering and deception in beautifying camels.[115]
Camel milk is a staple food of desert nomad tribes and is sometimes considered a meal itself; a nomad can live on only camel milk for almost a month.[19][39][116][117]
Camel milk can readily be made into yogurt, but can only be made into butter if it is soured first, churned, and a clarifying agent is then added.[19] Until recently, camel milk could not be made into camel cheese because rennet was unable to coagulate the milk proteins to allow the collection of curds.[118] Developing less wasteful uses of the milk, the FAO commissioned Professor J.P. Ramet of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires, who was able to produce curdling by the addition of calcium phosphate and vegetable rennet in the 1990s.[119] The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant.[120][121]
A Somali camel meat and rice dishCamel meat pulao, from Pakistan
They provide food in the form of meat and milk.[124] Approximately 3.3 million camels and camelids are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide.[125] A camel carcass can provide a substantial amount of meat. The male dromedary carcass can weigh 300–400kg (661–882lb), while the carcass of a male Bactrian can weigh up to 650kg (1,433lb). The carcass of a female dromedary weighs less than the male, ranging between 250 and 350kg (550 and 770lb).[18] The brisket, ribs and loin are among the preferred parts, and the hump is considered a delicacy.[126] The hump contains "white and sickly fat", which can be used to make the khli (preserved meat) of mutton, beef, or camel.[127] On the other hand, camel milk and meat are rich in protein, vitamins, glycogen, and other nutrients making them essential in the diet of many people. From chemical composition to meat quality, the dromedary camel is the preferred breed for meat production. It does well even in arid areas due to its unusual physiological behaviors and characteristics, which include tolerance to extreme temperatures, radiation from the sun, water paucity, rugged landscape and low vegetation.[128] Camel meat is reported to taste like coarse beef, but older camels can prove to be very tough,[13][18] although camel meat becomes tenderer the more it is cooked.[129]
Camel is one of the animals that can be ritually slaughtered and divided into three portions (one for the home, one for extended family/social networks, and one for those who cannot afford to slaughter an animal themselves) for the qurban of Eid al-Adha.[130][131]
The Abu Dhabi Officers' Club serves a camel burger mixed with beef or lamb fat in order to improve the texture and taste.[132] In Karachi, Pakistan, some restaurants prepare nihari from camel meat.[133] Specialist camel butchers provide expert cuts, with the hump considered the most popular.[134]
Camel meat has been eaten for centuries. It has been recorded by ancient Greek writers as an available dish at banquets in ancient Persia, usually roasted whole.[135] The Roman emperor Heliogabalus enjoyed camel's heel.[39] Camel meat is mainly eaten in certain regions, including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and other arid regions where alternative forms of protein may be limited or where camel meat has had a long cultural history.[18][39][126] Camel blood is also consumable, as is the case among pastoralists in northern Kenya, where camel blood is drunk with milk and acts as a key source of iron, vitamin D, salts and minerals.[18][126][136]
Camel meat is also occasionally found in Australian cuisine: for example, a camel lasagna is available in Alice Springs.[135][136] Australia has exported camel meat, primarily to the Middle East but also to Europe and the US, for many years.[138] The meat is very popular among East African Australians, such as Somalis, and other Australians have also been buying it. The feral nature of the animals means they produce a different type of meat to farmed camels in other parts of the world,[139] and it is sought after because it is disease-free, and a unique genetic group. Demand is outstripping supply, and governments are being urged not to cull the camels, but redirect the cost of the cull into developing the market. Australia has seven camel dairies, which produce milk, cheese and skincare products in addition to meat.[140]
Muslims consider camel meat halal (Arabic: حلال, 'allowed'). However, according to some Islamic schools of thought, a state of impurity is brought on by the consumption of it. Consequently, these schools hold that Muslims must perform wudhu (ablution) before the next time they pray after eating camel meat.[141] Also, some Islamic schools of thought consider it haram (Arabic: حرام, 'forbidden') for a Muslim to perform Salat in places where camels lie, as it is said to be a dwelling place of the Shaytan (Arabic: شيطان, 'Devil').[141] According to Abu Yusuf (d.798), the urine of camel may be used for medical treatment if necessary, but according to Abū Ḥanīfah, the drinking of camel urine is discouraged.[142]
The Islamic texts contain several stories featuring camels. In the story of the people of Thamud, the Prophet Salih miraculously brings forth a naqat (Arabic: ناقة, 'milch-camel') out of a rock. After the Prophet Muhammadmigrated from Mecca to Medina, he allowed his she-camel to roam there; the location where the camel stopped to rest determined the location where he would build his house in Medina.[143]
According to Jewish tradition, camel meat and milk are not kosher.[144] Camels possess only one of the two kosher criteria; although they chew their cud, they do not possess cloven hooves: "But these you shall not eat among those that bring up the cud and those that have a cloven hoof: the camel, because it brings up its cud, but does not have a [completely] cloven hoof; it is unclean for you."[145]
Cultural depictions
What may be the oldest carvings of camels were discovered in 2018 in Saudi Arabia. They were analysed by researchers from several scientific disciplines and, in 2021, were estimated to be 7,000 to 8,000 years old.[146] The dating of rock art is made difficult by the lack of organic material in the carvings that may be tested, so the researchers attempting to date them tested animal bones found associated with the carvings, assessed erosion patterns, and analysed tool marks in order to determine a correct date for the creation of the sculptures. This Neolithic dating would make the carvings significantly older than Stonehenge (5,000 years old) and the Egyptian pyramids at Giza (4,500 years old) and it predates estimates for the domestication of camels.
Shadda (cover,detail), Karabagh region, southwest Caucasus, early 19th century
Vessel in the form of a recumbent camel with jugs, 250 BC – 224 AD, Brooklyn Museum
Maru Ragini (Dhola and Maru Riding on a Camel), c. 1750, Brooklyn Museum
The Magi Journeying (Les rois mages en voyage)—James Tissot, c. 1886, Brooklyn Museum
Over one million dromedary camels are estimated to be feral in Australia, descended from those introduced as a method of transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries.[151] This population is growing about 8% per year;[152] it was estimated at around 700,000 in 2008.[136][147][153] Representatives of the Australian government have culled more than 100,000 of the animals in part because the camels use too much of the limited resources needed by sheep farmers.[154]
A small population of introduced camels, dromedaries and Bactrians, wandered through Southwestern United States after having been imported in the 19th century as part of the U.S. Camel Corps experiment. When the project ended, they were used as draft animals in mines and escaped or were released. Twenty-five U.S. camels were bought and exported to Canada during the Cariboo Gold Rush.[95]
The Bactrian camel is, as of 2010[update], reduced to an estimated 1.4million animals, most of which are domesticated.[42][147][155] The Wild Bactrian camel is a separate species and is the only truly wild (as opposed to feral) camel in the world. The wild camels are critically endangered and number approximately 1400, inhabiting the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts in China and Mongolia.[12][156]
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↑ Scarre, Chris (15 September 1993). Smithsonian Timelines of the Ancient World. London: D. Kindersley. p.176. ISBN978-1-56458-305-5. Both the dromedary (the seven-humped camel of Arabia) and the Bactrian camel (the two-humped camel of Central Asia) had been domesticated since before 2000 BC.
↑ Bulliet, Richard (20 May 1990) [1975]. The Camel and the Wheel. Morningside Book Series. Columbia University Press. p.183. ISBN978-0-231-07235-9. As has already been mentioned, this type of utilization [camels pulling wagons] goes back to the earliest known period of two-humped camel domestication in the third millennium B.C.—Note that Bulliet has many more references to early use of camels
↑ Hirst, K. Kris. "Camels". About.com Archaeology. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
↑ Heide, Martin (2011). "The Domestication of the Camel: Biological, Archaeological and Inscriptional Evidence from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Israel and Arabia, and Literary Evidence from the Hebrew Bible". Ugarit-Forschungen. 42: 367–68. doi:10.13140/2.1.2090.8161.
↑ Heide, Martin (2011). "The Domestication of the Camel: Biological, Archaeological and Inscriptional Evidence from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Israel and Arabia, and Literary Evidence from the Hebrew Bible". Ugarit-Forschungen. 42: 368.
↑ Fleming, Walter L. (February 1909). "Jefferson Davis's Camel Experiment". The Popular Science Monthly. Vol.74, no.8. Bonnier Corporation. p.150. ISSN0161-7370. Archived from the original on 2016-05-04. Other trials of the camel were made in 1859 by Major D. H. Vinton, who used twenty-four of them in carrying burdens for a surveying party...All in all, he concluded, the camel was much superior to the mule.
1 2 3 Mantz, John (20 April 2006). "Camels in the Cariboo". In Basque, Garnet (ed.). Frontier Days in British Columbia. Heritage House Publishing Co. pp.51–54. ISBN9781894384018. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016.
↑ Nicolle, David (26 March 1991). The Desert Frontier. Rome's Enemies. Vol.5 (illustrated, reprinted.). Osprey Publishing. p.4. ISBN9781855321663. Nevertheless the military prowess of desert peoples impressed the Romans, who recruited large numbers as auxiliary cavalry and archers. In addition to providing the Roman Army with its best archers, the Easterners (largely Arabs but generally known as 'Syrians') served as Rome's most effective dromedarii or camel-mounted troops.
↑ Herodotus (440BC). The History of Herodotus. Rawlinson, George (trans.). Archived from the original on 1 December 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012. He collected together all the camels that had come in the train of his army to carry the provisions and the baggage, and taking off their loads, he mounted riders upon them accoutred as horsemen. These he commanded to advance in front of his other troops against the Lydian horse; behind them were to follow the foot soldiers, and last of all the cavalry. When his arrangements were complete, he gave his troops orders to slay all the other Lydians who came in their way without mercy, but to spare Croesus and not kill him, even if he should be seized and offer resistance. The reason why Cyrus opposed his camels to the enemy's horse was because the horse has a natural dread of the camel, and cannot abide either the sight or the smell of that animal. By this stratagem he hoped to make Croesus's horse useless to him, the horse being what he chiefly depended on for victory. The two armies then joined battle, and immediately the Lydian war-horses, seeing and smelling the camels, turned round and galloped off; and so it came to pass that all Croesus's hopes withered away.
↑ "Cameliers and camels at war". New Zealand History online. History Group of the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
↑ "The Posts at Benicia". The California State Military Museum. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
↑ "Cameliers and camels at war". New Zealand History online. History Group of the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 30 August 2009. pp.1, 2, 4, 5. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
↑ Federal Research Division (30 June 2004). Somalia a Country Study. Area handbook series (3rded.). Kessinger Publishing. pp.230–231. ISBN9781419147999.
↑ Jupiter Infomedia Ltd (28 November 2012). "Bikaner Camel Corps, Presidency Armies in British India". IndiaNetzone.[permanent dead link]
↑ Shelley, Toby (December 2007). "Sons of the Clouds". Red Pepper. Location. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
↑ Hermandad de Veteranos Tropas Nómadas del Sáhara. "Los Medios"[The Means]. Historia: Agrupación de Tropas Nómadas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
1 2 "Camel Milk". Milk & Dairy Products. FAO's Animal Production and Health Division. 25 September 2012. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
↑ Young, Philippa. "In Mongolian the Word 'Gobi' Means 'Desert'". Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2012. As evening approaches we are offered camel meat boats, dumplings stuffed with a finely chopped mixture of meat and vegetables, followed by camel milk tea and finally, warm fresh camel's milk to aid digestion and help us sleep.
↑ Tariq, M., Rabia, R., Jamil, A., Sakhwat, A., Aadil, A., & Muhammad S., 2010. Minerals and Nutritional Composition of Camel (Camelus Dromedarius) Meat in Pakistan. Journal- Chemical Society of Pakistan, Vol 33(6).
↑ Madame Guinaudeau (2003). Traditional Moroccan Cooking: Recipes from Fez. London: Serif. ISBN978-1-897959-43-5.
↑ Aleme, A., D., 2013. A Review of Camel Meat as a Precious Source of Nutrition in some part of Ethiopia. Agricultural Science, Engineering and Technology Research. Vol. 1, No. 4, December 2013, PP: 40–43. Available online at "Agricultural Science, Engineering and Technology Research". Archived from the original on 2016-12-03. Retrieved 2016-12-03..
↑ Rubenstein, Dustin (23 July 2010). "How to Cook Camel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012. He cut the pieces very small and cooked them for a long time. I decided to try something a bit different the following night and cut the pieces a bit bigger and cooked them for less time, as I like my meat rarer than he does. This was a bad idea. It seems that the more you cook camel, the more tender it becomes. So we had what amounted to two pounds or more of rubber for dinner that night.
↑ Arthur, Rick (4 January 2012). "The Instant Expert: camels, the ships of the desert". The National. UAE: Abu Dhabi Media. As the meat can be dry, however, the Abu Dhabi Officer's Club, for one, serves camel burger with beef or lamb fat mixed in, improving texture and taste.
↑ Jasra, Abdel Wahid; Isani, G. B.; Camel Applied Research and Development Network (2000). Socio-economics of camel herders in Pakistan. The Camel Applied Research and Development Network. p.164. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10.
1 2 Sherwood, Andy (17 September 2012). "Camel burgers in Abu Dhabi". Time Out Abu Dhabi. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
1 2 "Book 1, Number 0184". Purification (Kitab al-Taharah). Partial Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 1. Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Narrated Al-Bara' ibn Azib: The Messenger of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was asked about performing ablution after eating the flesh of the camel. He replied: Perform ablution, after eating it. He was asked about performing ablution after eating meat. He replied: Do not perform ablution after eating it. He was asked about saying prayer in places where the camels lie down. He replied: Do not offer prayer in places where the camels lie down. These are the places of Satan. He was asked about saying prayer in the sheepfolds. He replied: You may offer prayer in such places; these are the places of blessing.
1 2 3 Dolby, Karen (10 August 2010). You Must Remember This: Easy Tricks & Proven Tips to Never Forget Anything, Ever Again. Random House Digital, Inc. p.170. ISBN9780307716255.
↑ Abokor, Axmed Cali (1987). The Camel in Somali Oral Tradition. Nordic Africa Institute. pp.7, 10–11. ISBN9789171062697.
↑ "Drought threatening Somali nomads, UN humanitarian office says". UN News Centre. 14 November 2003. Archived from the original on 19 November 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2012. A four-year drought is threatening the lives of Somali nomads, and those of the camel herds on which they depend for transportation and milk
↑ Farah, K. O.; Nyariki, D. M.; Ngugi, R. K.; Noor, I. M.; Guliye, A. Y. (2004). "The Somali and the Camel: Ecology, Management and Economics". Anthropologist. 6 (1): 45–55. doi:10.1080/09720073.2004.11890828. S2CID4980638. Somali pastoralists are a camel community...There is no other community in the world where the camel plays such a pivotal role in the local economy and culture as in the Somali community. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 1979) estimates, there are approximately 15 million dromedary camels in the worldPlain text version.Archived 2013-01-02 at the Wayback Machine
↑ "Feral camel". Northern Territory government. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
Gilchrist, W. (1851). A Practical Treatise on the Treatment of the Diseases of the Elephant, Camel & Horned Cattle: with instructions for improving their efficiency; also, a description of the medicines used in the treatment of their diseases; and a general outline of their anatomy. Calcutta, India: Military Orphan Press.
The llama is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era.
The even-toed ungulates are ungulates—hoofed animals—which bear weight equally on two of their five toes: the third and fourth. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing posteriorly. By contrast, odd-toed ungulates bear weight on an odd number of the five toes. Another difference between the two is that many other even-toed ungulates digest plant cellulose in one or more stomach chambers rather than in their intestine as the odd-toed ungulates do.
Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos. Camelids are even-toed ungulates classified in the order Cetartiodactyla, along with species including whales, pigs, deer, cattle, and antelopes.
The dromedary, also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel, or one-humped camel, is a large even-toed ungulate, of the genus Camelus, with one hump on its back.
The Bactrian camel, also known as the Mongolian camel or domestic Bactrian camel, is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped dromedary. Its population of 2 million exists mainly in the domesticated form. Their name comes from the ancient historical region of Bactria.
Lama is a genus containing four South American camelids, the wild guanaco and vicuña, and the domesticated llama and alpaca. Before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, llamas and alpacas were the only domesticated ungulates of the continent. They were kept not only for their value as beasts of burden, but also for their flesh, hides, and wool.
A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is an individual or type of working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back, in contrast to draft animals which pull loads but do not carry them.
A cama is a hybrid between a male dromedary camel and a female llama, and has been produced via artificial insemination at the Camel Reproduction Centre in Dubai. The first cama was born on January 14, 1998. The aim was to create an animal capable of higher wool production than the llama, with the size and strength of a camel and a cooperative temperament.
Camelops is an extinct genus of camels that lived in North and Central America, ranging from Alaska to Honduras, from the middle Pliocene to the end of the Pleistocene. It is more closely related to the Old World dromedary and bactrian and wild bactrian camels than to the New World guanaco, vicuña, alpaca and llama; making it a true camel of the Camelini tribe. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek κάμηλος and ὄψ, i.e. "camel-face".
Australian feral camels are feral populations of dromedaries in Australia. Imported from British India and Afghanistan during the 19th century for transport and construction during the colonisation of the central and western parts of Australia, many were released into the wild after motorised transport replaced the use of camels in the early 20th century, resulting in a fast-growing feral population.
Poebrotherium is an extinct genus of camelid, endemic to North America. They lived from the Eocene to Miocene epochs, 46.3—13.6 mya, existing for approximately 32 million years.
Camel milk is milk from female camels. It has supported nomad and pastoral cultures since the domestication of camels millennia ago. Herders may for periods survive solely on the milk when taking the camels on long distances to graze in desert and arid environments, especially in parts of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa. The camel dairy farming industry has grown in Australia and the United States, as an environmentally friendly alternative to cow dairy farming using a species well-adapted to arid regions.
Chal, or shubat, is a Turkic beverage of fermented camel milk, sparkling white with a sour flavor, popular in Central Asia — particularly in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. In Kazakhstan the drink is known as shubat, and is a staple summer food. Due to preparation requirements and perishable nature, chal has proved difficult to export. Agaran is collected from the surface of chal.
Thelazia is a genus of nematode worms which parasitize the eyes and associated tissues of various bird and mammal hosts, including humans. They are often called "eyeworms", and infestation with Thelazia species is referred to as "thelaziasis". Adults are usually found in the eyelids, tear glands, tear ducts, or the so-called "third eyelid". Occasionally, they are found in the eyeball itself, either under the conjunctiva or in the vitreous cavity of the eyeball. All species of Thelazia for which the life cycle has been studied are transmitted by species of Diptera (flies) which do not bite, but which feed on tears.
A hybrid camel is a hybrid between a Bactrian camel and dromedary.
Camel urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in a camel's anatomy. Urine from camels has been used in prophetic medicine for centuries, being a part of ancient Bedouin practices.
The wild camel is a critically endangered species of camel living in parts of northwestern China and southwestern Mongolia. It is closely related to the Bactrian camel. Both are large, double-humped even-toed ungulates native to the steppes of central Asia. Until recently, wild camels were thought to have descended from domesticated Bactrian camels that became feral after being released into the wild. However, genetic studies have established it as a separate species which diverged from the Bactrian camel about 1.1 million years ago.
Camelus thomasi is an extinct species of camel from the Early-Mid Pleistocene of North Africa. It is known primarily from Tighennif (Ternifine) in Algeria, as well as Sudan. Fossils from Israel dated to the Late Pleistocene have been included under C. thomasi, but they are now considered to belong to a different species, making C. thomasi a strictly African species.
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