Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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] [123] [124] 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]
Dromedary camels, bactrian camels, llamas, and alpacas are all induced ovulators. [8] The three Afro-Asian camel species have developed extensive adaptations to their lives in harsh, near-waterless environments. Wild populations of the Bactrian camel are even able to drink brackish water, and some herds live in nuclear test areas. [9]
The common name "dromedary" comes from the Old French dromedaire or the Late Latin dromedarius.These originated from the Greek word dromas, δρομάς (ο, η) (GEN (γενική) dromados, δρομάδος), meaning "running" or "runner", [5] [6] used in Greek in the combination δρομάς κάμηλος (dromas kamelos), literally "running camel", to refer to the dromedary.
The Bactrian camel shares the genus Camelus with the dromedary (C. dromedarius) and the wild Bactrian camel (C. ferus).The Bactrian camel belongs to the family Camelidae. [1] [5] The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was the first European to describe the camels: in his 4th century BCE History of Animals, he identified the one-humped Arabian camel and the two-humped Bactrian camel.
Wild Bactrian camels travel over long distances, seeking water in places close to mountains where springs are found, and hill slopes covered in snow provide some moisture in winter. The size of a herd may be as many as 100 camels but generally consists of 2–15 members in a group; this is reported to be due to arid environment and heavy poaching.
Camels had been used successfully in desert exploration in other parts of the world. The first suggestion of importing camels into Australia was made in 1822 by Danish-French geographer and journalist Conrad Malte-Brun, whose Universal Geography contains the following: For such an expedition, men of science and courage ought to be selected.
The camelid family consists of the Old World camelids (the dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, and wild Bactrian camels) and the New World camelids (the llama, vicuna, suri alpaca, huacaya alpaca, and guanaco). Though there have been successful and fertile hybrids within each major groups of camelids, the cama marks the first instance of cross ...
The closest relative of Paracamelus is disputed, with authors variously suggesting Megacamelus, Procamelus, and Megatylopus as likely candidates. [5] During the latest Miocene around 6 million years ago, the genus spread to Eurasia across the Bering land bridge, arriving in Spain just prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis at approximately 6 Ma, [6] with the earliest fossils in Africa around ...