Camels and camelids (including alpacas, vicuñas, guanacos and llamas)

[BorneanTiger]

What I showed above (with the exception of the guanaco (Lama guanicoe)) was the one-humped dromedary (Camelus dromedarius), also known as the Arabian camel, which is present in northern parts of Africa, south-western parts of Asia, and in Australia as an introduced animal. The other 2 species in the Old World camel genus (Camelus) are the (domestic) Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus, present in central, western and eastern parts of Asia, partly sympatric with the dromedary) and the Wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus, present in remote parts of northwest China and Mongolia). Despite their names, and the fact that they have 2 humps, the latter 2 are different species, with the domestic Bactrian camel having a different ancestor to the extant wild Bactrian camel, similar to the relationship between say domestic dogs and wolves, or domestic and wild horses: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4171754/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6899786/

Domestic Bactrian camel (C. bactrianus) at Shanghai Zoo, by J. Patrick Fischer

*This image is copyright of its original author

Wild Bactrian camel (C. ferus) in Xinjiang Province, China, on the Southern Silk Road between Yarkand and Khotan, by John Hill:

*This image is copyright of its original author

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