Camels | Ships of the desert

 

Camels are desert animals. Living in deserts is hard because of lack of water, food and shelter.

All camels have only strong nails and two toes on each feet. Camel soles are made of protective pads that cover the bottom of the camel's feet. The protective pads, or soles, of camel feet help them to walk comfortably on rough and hot terrain, as well as protect their toes from injuries. They store energy in form of fat in their humps and acquire water through their food, like cactus which stores water in it's body. Camels are of two sub - categories.

One with single hump is native to Asia, Arabian and African deserts.

The Dromedary Camel.

And another one native to Mongolian deserts is the two - humped Bactrian camel.

    A Mongolian Bactrian Camel.

Camels despite known as Ships of the desert are pretty much domesticated to sub-tropical and tropical regions by humans in the past few centuries. They have heavy and thick eyelashes and brows to protect their eyes from the gusty winds of desert ( which carry sand and dirt ). The roof of their mouth inside is Folded, for secretion of liquids/ Bodily fluids that maintain moisture in the mouth.

They have one of the thickest tongues the earth has ever seen and also cheek muscles and gums. These features help them chew Cacti effortlessly, as if no spikes. They eat many thorny bushes besides Cacti and have no problem chewing the razor-sharp spikes. They are ruminants, Have multiple stomach like compartments or rather organ like sacs to help them digest special compounds that carnivorous can't like cellulose, a common fiber present in almost all plants.

Camels can drink up to 150 litres of water in one sitting !!

They can live weeks upon weeks without food and water. Their humps are solely made for storing additional food in the form of fat, in a specialized tissue called Adipose Fat tissue.

In which fat is stored in bubbles like Globules.

Despite of their large body, long neck and slim and strong legs they can run up to speeds of 64kmph. Camels are ( well ) best adapted to live in desert, either cold or hot because they can live any environment ranging between 

-40^oC to +50^oC .

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J. Maanavendra roy,
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