In order to survive in the desert, camels store water and food in the camels - this is the cognition we have gained since childhood. But, is this true? is not exactly.
Although camels have the trick to make the most of the water found, camel is not one of them.
So, what exactly is the hump on the camel's back used for?
The answer is: fat storage. "The function of hump is to help camels deal with food and water shortages during the dry season." When there is food, camels will consume enough calories to build hump; this way, they can survive for a long time when food is scarce. If the camel is "full", the camel can live for 4 months or even 5 months without food. When camels consumed their fat, their empty hump would flip like a deflated balloon--until, they "eat" enough to "swell" again.
Camels do not have "hunches" when they are born and will not grow during breastfeeding. All the energy they get from their mother will be used for the growth of the body.
Young camels begin weaning when they are 4 to 6 months old; while humps do not begin to form until they are 10 months to 1 year old. However, as wild camels have to deal with the periodic changes in the season, they are likely to grow a little hump in advance to survive the first dry season of their lives.
Bacterian camel lives in western China and central Asia, with two humps; Arabic camels ( dromedary camel ) are more common, with only one hump.
Although many animals store fat on their stomach and sides of their bodies; camels insist on gaining weight in the "vertical" direction.
has a theory that there is a "hard calluse" on the stomach of camels; it can help them lie directly in the hot sand - and if fat is preserved in the abdomen, it will affect this function.
Another theory suggests that camels grow tall and narrow; fat stored on the camels rather than on both sides means that camels can be exposed to less sunlight and less heat.
Because camels are used to store food, dromedary camels need other methods to deal with water shortage.
For example, a camel can drink up to 30 gallons (114 liters) of water at a time, and they only excrete dry feces to preserve water; the camel's kidneys can effectively remove toxins from the water in the body, thereby retaining as much water as possible.
In addition, camels have several other ways to help them go further with every glass of water they drink.
For example, they will absorb moisture and moisture from the air from each breath with their nose.
, the incredible ability to make a living with less water, helped the camels win the legend that if they don’t drink water for a long time, the water must be hidden in its hump!
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