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Types of Camels:
The camel is a apseudoruminant animal, and belongs to the clove and arch-legged animal group. Within this group, there are 2 types of camel species – the Camel and the Llama.
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There are 4 varieties of Llamas:
- Vicuna
- Guanacoe
- Glama
- Pacos
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There are 2 varieties of Camels:
- Dromedary Camel which have 1 hump
- Bactrian Camel which have 2 humps
The different varieties of llamas live in South America and the United States of America, where it is domesticated.
The Bactrian camel lives in the cooler areas of Asia, but are exhibited in Zoos and circuses in many European countries. Dromedary camels, known as Arab Camels, are mainly found in Arab countries.
Domestication of Camels:
It is believed that camels were originally wild, and their domestication started 4,000 years ago in Hadhramout in South Arabian Peninsula (Wilson, 1984). Inhabitants of South Arabian Peninsula tamed camels in order to use it for travel and transportation of people and goods in sandy deserts, and for producing milk, meat and wool.
According to legend, the Queen of Sheba used camels to carry her luggage when she visited King Solomon around 955 BC. Thousands of years ago, Arabs in Olibanum used camels to transport spices, perfumes and salt, Domesticated camels spread from South Arabian Peninsula to other parts of the Arab world, Africa and some parts of Europe.
Evolution of Camels:
By studying the layers of the earth that contain animal remains through the centuries, Palaeontologists can infer which animal existed during which period of history. Wilson (1984) stated that the first trace camels found in North America dated back 50 million years. From North America, the camel easily migrated to South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa 3 or 4 million years ago since all the continents as we know them today then existed as one land mass. The llama settled in South America, while the camel spread to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Species of camels settled in specific regions. Whereas the Bactrian camel settled in cool areas, the Dromedary camel settled in the warmer areas of the Arabian Peninsula, Northern West Asia, North and East Africa up to Northern Kenya and Ethiopia.
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