Camels

Camels, also known as 'Ships of the Desert', or 'Horses Designed by a Committee', come in two types, dromedaries and bactrians. It is one-humped camel, or dromedary (easy to remember; a 'D' has one hump and a 'B' has two humps) which lives in the Arabian peninsular and by the dozen, at least half a million inhabit the Gulf regions.

Camels (along with cows, llamas and alpacas) are ruminants; vegetarian mammals that chew the grass or cud. However, camels are the only ruminants able to survive intense heat, for long periods of time, without water. Their adaptations to the heat are many and varied:

Adaptations to the Heat
1. Camels can loose up to 30% of their body weight through the loss of water and unlike any other animal on earth, will survive
2. They are able to replace absolutely all this lost water in one drinking session
3. Baby camels can survive on their mother’s milk without the need for additional food. Other ruminant babies such as lambs and calves need drinking water to survive, even before they are weaned
4. Camels store fat in their hump which they use as food when famine strikes
5. Camels are able to change their body temperature, depending on the air temperature, from between 34 degC to 41 degC. This allows them to stay cool and sweat less.
6. Camels only have three stomachs, (all other ruminants have four stomachs). They do not have a third stomach which is used for water re-absorption in cows, llamas and alpacas
7. Camels, like horses and rats, have no gall-bladders (gall-bladders store bile from the liver)
8. Camel's kidneys concentrate their urine to reduce the ammount of water lost when pissing
9. Camels produce poo pellets which are so dry they can be used, immediately upon production, as fuel