Talk:Camel

it yields more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed.

This is idiotic, camels do not violate the law of conservation of mass — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.74.30.50 (talk) 07:18, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

Yeah, this struck me as odd too. Here is the text from the source that was cited:

"First, it can be ascertained that the camel's hump is not in fact filled with water, simply by cutting into it. Such action would reveal that the hump is in fact composed mostly of fat. Yet, this could still suggest that the hump acts as a water store. If a gram of fat is broken down during metabolism, it produces more than a gram of water. However, camels cannot use this fat for water production. Due to the arid conditions prevailing in their habitat, they would lose too much water from their airways in obtaining enough oxygen for fat degradation. So, what is the role of the camel's hump? Unfortunately the answer is relatively dull - it appears that the humps are merely food reserves, and the fat contained within is degraded and used for nutrition when food is scarce."

While it repeats that factoid, note that the highlighted section goes on to say that this fat isn't used for water at all, it's used for food, meaning the article text is incorrect (unless the other source is saying something contradictory, but it's not a source that can be seen online). Can someone please clear this up? 70.91.35.27 (talk) 19:37, 6 October 2015 (UTC)Tim

7 Separate species of Camel

There are seven separate species of camel, three of which are old world, not two! we should not forget that the wild camel is genetically different from the two domestic species of the old world. here is a site to confirm what I am saying: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8151000/8151804.stm

 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.168.41.254 (talk) 18:21, 18 April 2011 (UTC) 

Camels can "spit" when threatened or scared, and they have long eyelashes just so the sand won't get into their eyes, and they can last about 2 weeks without food or water when they have just gotten done eating, and they are like horses because you can ride them in the desert. ~peopelgocraztonight~ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Peoplegocrazytonight (talk • contribs) 23:30, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

• Why is the Wild Bactrian camel not listed in this article? FunkMonk (talk) 11:04, 27 October 2014 (UTC)

Camels don't spit

A common misconception about camels is that they spit a lot. They don't spit, but on rare occasion, when upset, they'll regurgitate from one of their stomachs and fling the contents out of their mouths. See "fun facts" on the left of this San Diego Zoo page:[1] The current article doesn't claim that camels spit, but it does a good job of dispelling the myth that they store water in their humps, and that there is a dichotomy between dromedaries and camels (dromedaries are, in fact, a form of camel, not separate from camels). I think it would be informative to dispel this other camel myth as well. 216.99.209.244 (talk) 21:04, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Move

{{movereq|Bactrian camel}}

Camel → Bactrian camel —

Reason: Bactrian camel & Dromedary are both used for other purposes, thus require seperate article to keep things simple & correct.

• Dromedary: used for meat, milk, wool, skin
• Bactrian camel: used only as method of transport

There already are separate articles. It wouldn't make sense to change the name of this one.--Kotniski (talk) 13:51, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

"Medical Uses"

I removed this section because it consisted of some references to religious texts. That does not constitute medical advice. The quotes provided did not make much sense in the context of an article about camels. Perhaps in an article about Camels in Arabic Culture? Metao (talk) 08:28, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

In Islam section

I don't believe that section belongs here. We don't just list everything a religion has said about a particular animal. If we did, we'd also need to list the 59 times camel appears in the Bible, perhaps separating out Old Testament into a Judaism section. Perhaps I could imagine a short section which briefly mentions overall impressions that various religions have of camels, like if the meat is halal or kosher, or if the camel has a standard symbollic meaning, but we don't need a bunch of different quotes. Qwyrxian (talk) 07:30, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

How about if we only ad the first part without the quotes? "In Sunni Islam, the Sahih Bukhari, which forms one of the six major Hadith collections quotes the Prophet Muhammad advocating drinking camel's milk and urine as medicine in several verses." ? --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 16:42, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

That sounds fine to me. For now it could go in a "Islam" section, then if we can get more info (I'm actually curious now if camel meet is okay under Jewish and Islamic dietary laws), we can call it a "religion" section. I'll poke around if I think about it later. Qwyrxian (talk) 21:03, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

There was already some info about Judaism. So I created the religion section. --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 21:59, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

Milk and urine

Only camel's milk was prescribed by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as medicine, not urine. You should read this Hadith for accurate information. http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&BookID=24&TOCID=3179 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.234.84.37 (talk) 00:04, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

While not myself familiar with the subject, it seems that the sources in the article are a bit specific with that: [2], [3]. Both of those include urine. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 00:12, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

I have to concur; both sources state that the hadith explicitly says "urine". If you have some English source that says otherwise, please provide it. If there is disagreement about the interpretation of that passage, we can and should have both interpretations/opinions. Qwyrxian (talk) 00:26, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

camels have...

camels have long eyelashes to protest there eyes from the sand. They have big feet so they don't sink in the sand.

camels have...

camels have long eyelashes to protect there eyes from the sand. They have big feet so they don't sink in the sand. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.12.0.149 (talk) 18:06, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

The big foot has a large surface area to prevent the camel from sinking. The force is less concentrated therefore the camel does not sink in the sand. Puffin ^{Lets talk!} 21:03, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

Copyvio template

Is that copyvio template supposed to be there? WHo is working on this article? Let me know in my talk page please, thanks --Camilo Sanchez (talk) 00:10, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Copyright evaluation

Hi. I'm investigating the copyright concerns at WP:CP; I think we should be able to verify permission for this material. It was placed by User:Gabriel balmus; Gabriel Balmus is listed first amongst the authors of the journal article. I've left him a note at his talk page explaining how to verify his identity, since we need to be able to connect him positively to that publication. One way or another, the article should be revisited in about a week, unless he returns to help clear this up before then. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 18:43, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Are camels endangered?

Can someone add a thing at the sing which says like Least Concern, Extinct you know what I mean? It's an animal so it needs one. It's on this page if it helps. Puffin ^{Lets talk!} 21:03, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

It's called conservation status Puffin ^{Lets talk!} 21:04, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

Australian feral camel population growth rate

Please change "This population is growing at approximately 18% per year." to "This population is growing at approximately 8% per year."

I cannot edit the page so am writing here for someone to do the job please. The sentence "This population is growing at approximately 18% per year." in the section "Distribution and number" does not seem to be correct. See this source: http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au/resource/DKCRC-Report-47-Ch02_Saalfeld-and-Edwards_Ecology-of-feral-camels-in-Australia.pdf - page 23: "Initial population estimates were projected forward to 2008 using the latest available annual rate of increase of 8% (McLeod & Pople 2008)." Also, this article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_feral_camel has cited a source saying the population has "the capability of doubling in number every nine years" which corresponds with a growth rate of 8%, not 18%. Seanoneal (talk) 08:42, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for finding this error; I've fixed it and added a reference. For your vigilance and scholarship, I've also granted you the confirmed userright, so you'll be able to edit semi-protected articles yourself from now on. Feezo (send a signal | watch the sky) 14:21, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

Name Change

I believe the section 'Eco-behavioural adaptations' should be changed to 'Structural Adaptations', as it does not discuss any behavioural adaptations, and as such, may be misleading and disquieting to some. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.166.46.72 (talk) 12:56, 21 June 2011 (UTC)

Distribution

The distribution section is self-contradictory. The section indicates that all dromedaries are domesticated and then later speaks of the feral population in Australia. Check Feral; the million or so feral camels in Australia are not domesticated. 167.123.240.35 (talk) 03:42, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

File:Camel Tunisia.jpg Nominated for speedy Deletion

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Tourism uses

Where did this section go, or was it created without content? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lexprod (talk • contribs) 00:01, 27 February 2012 (UTC)

Section was originally added with only a picture (that no longer exists), As far as I can tell, there was never any content in it, so I removed it. It can be re-added when needed. -- Lindert (talk) 10:28, 27 February 2012 (UTC)

Locomotion?

I accessed this entry to see if my preconception that camels pace was correct, but see nothing on this point. I think it should be addressed in order to make this article more complete. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.229.217.188 (talk) 02:01, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Distribution

The map showing the distribution of camel species is clearly wrong. They can also be found in South and East Asia as well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.164.82.13 (talk) 21:36, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

dulla? I Doubt it

I am not expert, but a fast google shows nothing called a 'dulla' as mentioned in the biology para. Are we being wooshed? Paul, in Saudi (talk) 05:37, 13 May 2012 (UTC)

So I just asked my Saudi students. They said camels do in fact have the organ described. Shows you Google does not know everything! Paul, in Saudi (talk) 08:57, 13 May 2012 (UTC)

There are some google leads but none seem any more reliable than WP and its anon editors itself. Going to academic search engines was easy to WP:Vverify it though, but turns out our article was not exactly correct (only dromedaries have it, not bactrians). So now we have a good source in the article and more correct details too. Thanks for alerting us (and helping confirm it). DMacks (talk) 15:51, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

For those following this thread, there is now a Dulla (organ) page onto which I have posted external links to photos of this amazing organ.__DrChrissy (talk) 20:31, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Evolution

The section on evolution wants fixing: The names of genera aren't capitalised, scientific binomials aren't italicised, and the reference to Alticamelus needs to be changed to Aepycamelus.

I'd do it myself but the page has been protected.... 66.232.246.90 (talk) 15:31, 26 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. Done - Lindert (talk) 16:13, 26 July 2012 (UTC)

References

I've recently added a bunch of references to the article. In order to avoid confusion and clarify exactly which notes came from where, I've included a link to my notes page.

– Prof. Squirrel (talk) 03:16, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

what do they eat?

I searched for herbi(vorous), carni(vorous) and omni(vorous) in the article: no occurrences. There is enough info on camel milk, camel meat etc. Shouldn't it provide clear info on what they eat?--GDibyendu (talk) 08:56, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

Domestication needs some work

When were they domesticated? It is critical for Bible studies as some are claiming the Bible contains anachronisms due to the evidence which suggest domestication of the camel is too recent to be part of the "traditional" Abraham period. The Bible Unearthed, see Richard Bulliet's (professor of history, Columbia University) *The Camel and the Wheel*, Columbia Univ (1990--Inayity (talk) 12:15, 29 December 2012 (UTC)

While the "Domestication" section could well be expanded, the specific point you bring up is already adressed there, and includes three references. All agree that camels were domesticated at least since the third millenium BC, which is before the time setting of Abraham. - Lindert (talk) 12:39, 29 December 2012 (UTC)

New World/South American

Is there a reason why llamas and alpacas are listed as New World camels, while Guanacos are listed as South American camels. Seems to me the terms are synonyms.96.238.211.171 (talk) 08:48, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

The semi-colon in the second sentence...

...should not be there. There should be a comma instead. Why do people use semi-colons in place of commas? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.163.6.215 (talk) 17:15, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

Correction Needed In References

There is an error in footnote 60. It reads: ^ Scarre, Chris (15 September 1993). Smithsonian Timelines of the Ancient World. London: D. Kindersley. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-56458-305-5. "Both the dromedary (the seven-humped camel of Arabia) and the Bactrian camel (the two-humped camel of Central Asia) had been domesticated since before 2000 BC."

I suspect that it should read:"..... the dromedary (the single-humped camel of Arabia)...."

Seven-humped camels? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.12.108.105 (talk) 21:06, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

Move table

I propose moving the table showing "camel-like mammals". Camels is about camels and states there are only two species; it is not about Camelids. It is confusing then to have a table showing 6 species. The table is a good one so rather than deleting or editing it, I think it should be moved whole to Camelids - it would benefit that article.__DrChrissy (talk) 22:17, 25 May 2013 (UTC)

I completely agree. - Lindert (talk) 22:49, 25 May 2013 (UTC)

File:Afro-asiatic Camelid Range.jpg

Please remove File:Afro-asiatic Camelid Range.jpg from the infobox. This map is wrong, since it is only the range of the domesticated dromedary camel, and not Afroasiatic camelids. So the filename and the current caption give false information to our readership -- 65.94.76.126 (talk) 02:58, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

Done - Yeah, not sure why that was in there. I've removed that file and replaced it with the identical file, titled "Dromedary Range", and removed the reference to bactrians from the caption. I'm also removing the thumbnail you added to this page so the duplicate file may be deleted without issue. Thanks, --ElHef (Meep?) 03:27, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

Misleading claims

"According to molecular data, the New World and Old World camelids diverged 11 million years ago.[44] In spite of this, these species can still hybridize and produce fertile offspring.[45] The hybrid camel has one hump, though it has an indentation 4–12 cm (1.6–4.7 in) deep that divides the front from the back. "

This section is quite misleading. The hybrid mentioned in the third sentence is a cross between the dromedary and bactrian camels, and not a cross between the Asian and South American species, as the first two sentences would imply.Eregli bob (talk) 10:42, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

Citation needed for meaning of gāmāl

The text at the end of the second paragraph needs a citation "The Hebrew meaning of the word gāmāl is derived from the verb root g.m.l, meaning (1) stopping, weaning, going without; or (2) repaying in kind. This refers to its ability to go without food or water, as well as the increased ability of service the animal provides when being properly cared for."

If this is some how self-evident, ( i.e. within the Judaic culture ), please explain for someone not familiar with the culture. Mazzarotti (talk) 05:41, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

 Not done You must not suggest what to do, instead provide the text what you have wanted to change. Close as not done. Ethically^Yours! 17:29, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

add link

There's a great little movie called "The Story of the Weeping Camel" you might want to add, it is amazing. Hillmon7500 (talk) 02:44, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

"horses are afraid of the camels' scent" - Source reilable?

The source for this quote seems to be a fact sheet by the San Diego zoo: http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/camel/camel.htm

When scrolling down you find the laconic part about the relation of horses to camels: " Used in combat

 Used because of their ability to scare horses
   Camel smell spooks horses

"

How reliable is this source? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.127.235.231 (talk) 11:35, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

Better sources, eg Herodotus.[4], [5], [6], [7]. Dougweller (talk) 14:27, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

Yes, I actually came here to verify Herodotus' claim about camels. I think Herodotus is a poor source about this fact given that it is possible to verify it today (via horse/camel experts).

The 2nd source is also Greek history, 3rd source does not seem to refer to the connection between horses and camels, and the 4th source is indeed very interesting.

However searching on Google I could not verify that the rationale behind the Nevada ban on camels in highways is that it scared off horses. I also couldn't find anything about the Brownsville, TX ban.

There is yet another problem - even the 4th source admits that the problem is really about horses being unfamiliar with camels (and he compares this to Arab horses which do tolerate camels).

Now if this is the case, then for that matter even cows, donkeys or pigs could be used to frighten horses (due to the horse's probable unfamiliarity with them).

However Herodotus' and the 4th source's claim is very clear about the reason being the camel's smell, which suggests that it is more than just unfamiliarity.

Looking online at forums about horses I found a related question that mentions that horses dislike camels:

http://bushcapital.org.au/forum/index.php?topic=5330.0

However other users claim that horses are generally afraid of anything unfamiliar.

Additionally I would expect of other (for instance Greeks or Romans) armies to employ this tactic :: if it were so effective, and yet the only case of this I could find is that of Cyrus and the Lydians. 77.127.235.231 (talk) 15:37, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 11 April 2014

2602:306:CF44:8730:603F:D6BD:83B3:6935 (talk) 15:50, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

The noun "jamal" means "camel" in Arabic but the verb "jamala" does not mean "to carry." Perhaps the source is confusing the orthographically similar words حمل (to carry) and جمل (camel). If it is not an Arabic word originally, there is no reason to relate it to an Arabic root, especially one that doesn't exist, since the source is not the root, but the Phoenician word or some intermediary variant. I think the entry should simply read: "Phoenician gāmāl, cognate with the Arabic noun "jamal," meaning camel."

All the meanings associated with the Arabic root j-m-l can be found here: http://www.tyndalearchive.com/tabs/lane/

Partly done: I have removed the bit about jamala per your concerns. I happen to own the second edition of the New Oxford American Dictionary and it doesn't say anything about the Arabic root. I haven't put in the part "cognate with the Arabic noun "jamal," meaning camel.", since it sounds like you are speculating about it. Can you provide a source verifying that the word "camel" is derived from the Arabic cognate? You provided the Lane book but it looks like a very large book; if verification is in there, could you help us by showing us where to look? Thanks, Mz7 (talk) 21:58, 4 May 2014 (UTC)

Dates in Military Uses Section Inconsistent

In the section on military uses in the 19th and 20th centuries, the dates for the US Army are inconsistent. The first sentence says that the Camel Corps was stationed in California in the late 19th century; the rest of the paragraph says that the Camel Corps was ended at the time of the Civil War when Texas seceded.

The article on the United States Camel Corps agrees with the earlier, pre-Civil War, dates. --JerryS NB (talk) 22:23, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 17 November 2014

The template call:

 {{Artiodactyla}}

should be changed to

 {{Artiodactyla|T.}}

to unhide the relevant sub-order, as per typical usage of this template. Rberetta (talk) 02:30, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Done Stickee (talk) 02:37, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 8 December 2014

i beleive tat camels have 2 humps or more and they use them to store food and water......... 170.185.164.17 (talk) 16:08, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

I think you should read the article more carefully - Arjayay (talk) 18:46, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Origins of word goes back further

Please change the current " The term "camel" is derived via Latin and Greek (camelus and κάμηλος kamēlos respectively) from Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl.[4][5] " to something like " The term "camel" is derived via Latin and Greek (camelus and κάμηλος kamēlos respectively) by way of Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl[4][5] from Accadian gammalu 'male dromedary'. " See for example the Demotic Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (Johnson ed), G, p.31 and Coptic Etymological Dictionary (Černý) p.331. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.7.72.178 (talk) 02:22, 4 June 2015 (UTC)

Edit request

Can we please remove the tag which puts it on this page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Halal_food ?--88.104.134.194 (talk) 14:08, 23 June 2015 (UTC) Agree.--88.104.131.9 (talk) 17:04, 24 June 2015 (UTC)

Genetics Section includes the following statement and reference >In spite of this, these species can still hybridize and produce fertile offspring.[46] The preceding sentence indicates the old world camels and new world camelids diverged 11 million years ago (hence the "in spite of this"). The cited reference #46 links to a paper which describes an attempt to hybridize the Dromendary camel with the South American Guanaco camelid. In the paper, all but one of the pregnancies resulting from the artificial insemination were aborted or stillborn. The single successful birth was a sterile hybrid. Thus, the statement in the article is in conflict with the reference it cites. The statement is also in conflict with the rest of the paragraph describing camel-llama hybrids but noting they are sterile, like the mule. It is suggested the statement above should be changed to

"In spite of this, these species can hybridize but produce sterile offspring[46]" Egudahl (talk) 20:11, 31 August 2015 (UTC)

Keep No need to remove this valid information here. Read about Carnism :) --huggi - never stop exploring (talk) 00:40, 1 September 2015 (UTC)