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Camels are large even-toed ungulates.
There are three species of camel; bactrian, dromedary, and wild bactrian.
Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus) are native to the steppes of Central Asia. They have two humps. Bactrians are often simply called camels. Bactrians were the most commonly used species on the Silk Road. Bactrians can be remembered using the letter B.
Dromedaries (Camelus dromedarius) are native to the Middle East, the Sahara desert, and Afghanistan and have a single hump. They have also been introduced to Australia. Dromdedaries can be remembered using the letter D.
By Florian Prischl - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Wild bactrian camels (Camelus ferus) are a rare species. There are only about 1400 of them left. They are native to remote area in northwest China and Mongolia. Much like bactrians, wild bactrians have two humps. Wild bactrians are the only species to not be domesticated.
Hybrids between domestic bactrian camels and dromedaries also exist. Hybrids are often called names such as Turkoman, Tülu, Bukht, Nar, Iner, Iver, Majen, Bertuar, Yaml, Dromano, and Dromel. F1 Hybrids (that is a hybrid between a pure dromedary and a pure bactrian) typically have one large hump and are larger than both of their parents.
All camels have humps. A camel's humps are made of fat.
Camels can go incredibly long periods of time without drinking water (15 days).
Camels can also carry up to 300 pounds (136 kilograms) of weight.
As previously mentioned, camels were used for transportation on the Silk Road because they can last fifteen days without water and carry up to 136 kilograms.
Today, camels are still used in a lot of applications. Camels provide food in the form of meat and milk. Camels also provide textiles and transportation.
Created by ThatOcelot.