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Description

The camelids are a family of large, herbivorous hoofed mammals from the order Artiodactyla; the even-toed ungulates which also includes pigs, hippos, whales, giraffes, deer, antelope, sheep and cattle. Living camelids include the humped camles of Asia and North Africa, and the llama, alpaca guanaco and vicuna of South America. The first camels evolved in North America during the Eocene 45 million years ago and at first resembled gazelles. Over time they grew larger and more diverse and like the early horses of the time were important large herbivores before ruminants diversified. By the Pliocene camels had spread to Eurasia and North Africa and once the Isthmus of Panama opened they spread to South America as well. Camels continued to thrive in North America until the end of the last ice age roughly 10,000 years ago when the first Native American humans likely hunted them to extinction. Living camelids share many features that differ from other ungulates. Camels feet have small nails with large fleshy pads which help them move over desert sands or rocky hills. They are the only artiodactyls who still have canine teeth and show signs of central incisors in the upper jaw. Their three-chambered stomachs are less efficient than the four-chambered stomachs of ruminants like cattle and giraffes, but camelids can still feed on poor quality and even spiny vegetation. The desert-dwelling camels especially can go for long periods without water but not because of their humps which instead of being full of water as is commonly believed are actually lumps of fat stores which the animals metabolize when food is scarce. Despite the camels being wiped out by humans in North America, living species are very important to people all over the world. Dromedary(one-humped) and Bactrian(two-humped) camels were domesticated around 3,000 B.C. in Asia and today are some of the most important beasts of burden throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa. There superb adaptations to desert environments allow them to transport people and goods across landscapes the horses, donkeys and cattle could never traverse. In South America too llamas and alpacas, descended from the still wild guanacos and vicunas, are prized livestock to indigenous peoples of the Andes Mountains, as the animals are used for transportation over the rugged mountain terrain as well as for their dense wool which is prized globally. The only wild camels still alive are the endangered wild Bactrian camel living in Central Asia and feral populations of dromedaries in Australia.

Species shown:
†Giraffe-camel: †Aepycamelus elrodi
Vicuna: Vicugna vicugna
Guanaco: Lama guanicoe
†Western camel: †Camelops hesternus
†Gazelle-camel: †Stenomylus hitchcocki
Bactrian camel: Camelus bactrianus

Description

The camelids are a family of large, herbivorous hoofed mammals from the order Artiodactyla; the even-toed ungulates which also includes pigs, hippos, whales, giraffes, deer, antelope, sheep and cattle. Living camelids include the humped camles of Asia and North Africa, and the llama, alpaca guanaco and vicuna of South America. The first camels evolved in North America during the Eocene 45 million years ago and at first resembled gazelles. Over time they grew larger and more diverse and like the early horses of the time were important large herbivores before ruminants diversified. By the Pliocene camels had spread to Eurasia and North Africa and once the Isthmus of Panama opened they spread to South America as well. Camels continued to thrive in North America until the end of the last ice age roughly 10,000 years ago when the first Native American humans likely hunted them to extinction. Living camelids share many features that differ from other ungulates. Camels feet have small nails with large fleshy pads which help them move over desert sands or rocky hills. They are the only artiodactyls who still have canine teeth and show signs of central incisors in the upper jaw. Their three-chambered stomachs are less efficient than the four-chambered stomachs of ruminants like cattle and giraffes, but camelids can still feed on poor quality and even spiny vegetation. The desert-dwelling camels especially can go for long periods without water but not because of their humps which instead of being full of water as is commonly believed are actually lumps of fat stores which the animals metabolize when food is scarce. Despite the camels being wiped out by humans in North America, living species are very important to people all over the world. Dromedary(one-humped) and Bactrian(two-humped) camels were domesticated around 3,000 B.C. in Asia and today are some of the most important beasts of burden throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa. There superb adaptations to desert environments allow them to transport people and goods across landscapes the horses, donkeys and cattle could never traverse. In South America too llamas and alpacas, descended from the still wild guanacos and vicunas, are prized livestock to indigenous peoples of the Andes Mountains, as the animals are used for transportation over the rugged mountain terrain as well as for their dense wool which is prized globally. The only wild camels still alive are the endangered wild Bactrian camel living in Central Asia and feral populations of dromedaries in Australia.

Species shown:
†Giraffe-camel: †Aepycamelus elrodi
Vicuna: Vicugna vicugna
Guanaco: Lama guanicoe
†Western camel: †Camelops hesternus
†Gazelle-camel: †Stenomylus hitchcocki
Bactrian camel: Camelus bactrianus