EDUC 1006: Biology of Camels: Features and Survival

This report provides a comprehensive overview of camel features and their adaptations for survival in desert environments. The report begins with an introduction to camels, including their classification and different species, such as the Arabian and Bactrian camels. It then delves into the physical characteristics of camels, focusing on the hump and its role in storing fat, which the animal utilizes for energy and water. The report further explores physiological adaptations, such as the oval shape of red blood cells that facilitates blood flow during dehydration, and the ability to regulate body temperature. Natural selection and the camel's ability to survive in harsh conditions are also discussed, including their eyelashes, humps, and the mechanisms that enable them to conserve water and withstand extreme temperatures. The report also contains diagrams and references, and concludes by highlighting the camel's significance to human life, particularly in providing food and facilitating survival in desert climates.

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Introduction
A camel is an even-toed hoofed mammal which belongs to genus camelus. Camels have
fatty deposits called humps on their backside. They are classified as livestock because like other
animals, they provide food to man. They have features that enable them withstand to desert
conditions.
There are different species of camels. One-humped camel also called the Arabian camel
is the tallest and it makes up to 93% of the population of all camels while Bactrian camel whose
origin is Central Asia makes up the other remainder (Wilson, 2014, p. 34).The third species of
camel is untamed Bactrian camel which has split class from others and is dying out.

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The statistical measure of the average live in a camel is averagely 45 years. An adult
camel can stand 1.84 m and 2.17m on its hump. They can run to approximately 64 km/hr in short
ruptures (Wilson, 2014, p. 23).Bactrian camels can weigh approximately 500 kg while
dromedaries weigh up to 700 kg. The widen toes on a camel’s hoof supply a clutch for unreliable
earth sedimentary.
Hump
A camel takes food and drink water as much as it can accommodate then it stores them as
a fat on its hump (Edison, 2014, p. 37).The chap dromedary has an appendage on its throat which
is a huge, hot-air balloon sac which extends from its mouth when in groove to affirm supremacy
and draw females (Vogelmann, 2013, p. 45). Camels indirectly store water on humps and have
pools of fatty acids.
They envisage body fats on humps to minimize the shielding fat that distribute on their
body hence helping them to withstand warm climates (Bulliet, 2015, p. 31). When it undergoes
metabolism, it produces more grams of water on each gram of processed fat. Then the
metabolism releases energy causing water to evaporate from the lings as oxygen is required for
metabolic process resulting to a reduction of water.
The picture below shows the different parts of the camel that help the animal to survive in
desert environs.

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(Bulliet, 2015,
p. 132).
Camels have psychological variations that enable them to stay for a long time without
getting water. The dromedary camel drink rarely every 12 days on hot conditions, it loses almost
31% of the body weight (Ibsen & Anstey, 2014, p. 56). They contain red cells whose shape is
oval so as to facilitate the stream on red blood cells in dehydration process. This enables the
camels withstand high osmoregulation without bursting when taking huge amounts of water.
Natural Selection
Natural selection is whereby nature selects and chooses which organism to survive. Or
die according to its unique features (Vogelmann, 2013, p. 56). Camels adapted and survived
because they developed eyelashes prevent the radiations of the sun and prevent sand getting in to

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their eyes (Edison, 2014, p. 71). The fat produced filled the humps to provide the camels with
water in dry and hot environments.
The camels developed features to live in their hot environment. They are also able to
overcome alteration on body heat and water use to prevent killing of the other animals. Camels’
temperature conditions ranges from 34oC to 40oC on sunset, before they decrease at night
(Bulliet, 2015, p. 61). They can lose 1.4 liters of water taken each day while others can lose up to
20 liters per day. Camels seldom sweat at high heat radiation of about 49oC and sweating that
occurs is then evaporated at the skin hence heat comes out of the body in form of vapor (Wilson,
2014, p. 67). Camels can survive even after trailing 26% of their mass through release of sweat
while some animals can only tolerate about 13% of the dehydration (Ibsen & Anstey, 2014, p.
52).When a camel breathes out, water in form of vapor is fascinated in the nose and then
reabsorbed back to enable the camel conserve some water, and when they eat green leaves, they
ingest enough moisture to maintain their bodies even when they have not taken water. The above
characteristics are shown in the diagram below;

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(Edison, 2014, p.
45).
Camels have also anatomical features which enables them preserve more water and
control the amount of urine in semi-arid climates (Bulliet, 2015, p. 76). The camel can live in
harsh conditions without taking water to maintain body temperature. The immune system of
camels is different from other mammals since they have antibodies which make them look
smaller and very strong.
The earliest camel is thought to have lived 50 Million years ago and its name is
Protylopus. Its size was of that of a rabbit and is said to have existed in the unbolt forests of
South Dakota (Bulliet, 2015, p. 45). It then evolved and increased its size to that of a goat but
had features of a camel hence was named Stenomylus that moved by its toes and had a long neck.
Camels spread across all over the world moving opposite directions from each other. Most of the
camels surviving today are domesticated in various parts of world like Australia and India
(Wilson, 2014, p. 59).

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Today, they are dependable for staple food for those tribes that stay in desert. Their milk
has vitamins, proteins and minerals and their meat provide food to the nomads (Ibsen & Anstey,
2014, p. 71). The hump of a camel contains fat which is used to make mutton, beef.
Conclusion
Camel generally has participated in making man’s life a success. It has provided food to
man. Camels allowed people to survive in harsh climates. Camels were used for other resources
and also for economic value. The animal has different features as discussed above that help it
survive the harsh climatic conditions in the desert.
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References
Bulliet, R. (2015). The camel and the wheel (8th ed.). New York: Havard Printing Press.
Edison, J. M. (2014). Camel back. London: routledge.
Ibsen, C., & Anstey, J. (2014). Camel in action. Melbourne: sydney.
Vogelmann, H. W. (2013). Existence of Camels (5th ed.). London: Routledge.
Wilson, R. T. (2014). The camel (7th ed.). London: Routledge.