The camel is a unique beast; popularly, known as ‘Ship of the Desert’, camels can travel great distances across the vast expanse of the hot and dry sandy areas, with practically no food and water for days. There are many interesting facts about them.
1. The name comes from the Arabic ǧml meaning "beauty".2. A camel’s hump does not store water. It stores fat, lessening heat-trapping insulation around the rest of the body.
3. One reason they can go long periods without water is the shape of their red blood cells. These are oval so will flow when they are dehydrated rather than clumping as ours do. The camel is the only mammal to have oval red blood cells.
4. Camels can drink up to 40 gallons of water in one go.
5. Their temperature ranges from 34 degrees Celsius at night to 41 degrees during the day. They don't begin to sweat until they are over 41 degrees.
6. The above photo does not illustrate the camel's sexual organs but is in fact the lining of the mouth extruded during mating calls - or sometimes to heighten the effect of "spitting".
7. Camels lie down to rest and sleep (and good luck getting them up if they decide they don't want to).
8. Camels lips are split to help them graze.
9. They can eat anything including thorny twigs without injuring their mouths.
10. Camels can kick in all four directions with each of their legs.
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