Temperature and Water Relations in
Dromedary Camels (Camelus dromedarius)

Reprinted from the website of Ranger Rick magazine, with the permission of the publisher, the
National Wildlife Federation.  Copyright 1999 by the National Wildlife Federation.
Contents
Home
Introduction
Heat storage 
and water
Brain cooling
Fur and heat gain
The kidneys
Respiration
Hormones
Literature cited page

 

This image is used with the permission of Dale Graham and can be found on his web site at:http://www.webcom.
com/~degraham/Camel/
Info.html

     The one humped camel, Camelus dromedarius, has played a significant role in the culture and way of life in the Middle East over the past couple thousand of years. Due to its ability to survive under   
the extremely harsh climate conditions of the desert, the camel has provided life in a place uninhabited by most animals.  Because of the fact that camels can live in desert environments, man has exploited them as modes of transportation. Camels were commonly used in caravans on long trade routes, and became known as the ships of the desert. Frankincense traders domesticated the animals thousands of years ago as trade routes were common throughout the Middle East, and  basically served as a link between Europe and the Far East (1). The Middle East was considered the crossroads of the world, and consequently one can imagine the importance that camels played as part of that industry.  It is very possible that without the camel there would not have been any kind of a society in Arabia. The camel was so essential for desert life that the Bedouin called the camels "Ata Allah" or God's gift (2).
 
These pictures are courtsey of http://www.best5.net/animal/

     The environment of the desert is one of the most inhospitable climates in the world. The desert is characterized as extremely dry and arid with some parts of the desert only getting rain once every decade. What adaptations does the camel have that enables it to thrive in an environment in which most other animals would die? The camel does not store an excess amount of water in the hump as some believe (2).  Fatty tissues in fact compose the hump, and it can provide energy to the camel when there is a shortage of food (2).  The camel can undergo extreme levels of dehydration and lose up to 40% of its body weight which is something that would be lethal to about any other animal (3).  If the camels do not store water, what is it that allows them to survive the harsh environment? The camel has numerous physiological adaptations which work to regulate both body temperature and water loss. 
 

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