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CH # 4 Adaptation of Camel in Hot Weather

Camels possess various adaptations for survival in desert environments, including the ability to regulate body temperature through adaptive heterothermy and specialized fur that minimizes heat transfer. Their physical traits, such as wide feet and long legs, help them navigate hot sand, while their unique physiological features, like efficient kidneys and specialized red blood cells, enable them to conserve water and withstand extreme temperatures. Behavioral adaptations, such as huddling together and spitting when threatened, further enhance their survival in harsh conditions.

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M Umer Saeed
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21 views4 pages

CH # 4 Adaptation of Camel in Hot Weather

Camels possess various adaptations for survival in desert environments, including the ability to regulate body temperature through adaptive heterothermy and specialized fur that minimizes heat transfer. Their physical traits, such as wide feet and long legs, help them navigate hot sand, while their unique physiological features, like efficient kidneys and specialized red blood cells, enable them to conserve water and withstand extreme temperatures. Behavioral adaptations, such as huddling together and spitting when threatened, further enhance their survival in harsh conditions.

Uploaded by

M Umer Saeed
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Adaptive For instance, there is another supporting mechanism

heterothermy to the previously mentioned selective brain cooling


known as “adaptive heterothermy.”

By this mechanism, camel can fluctuate its body


temperature between 34 and 42°C, thus minimizing
perspiration and avoiding water losses through
evaporation
Bone Desert sand can be scorching, so camels have
leathery, heat-resistant pads on their feet, knees,
elbows and sternum so they can lie down without
getting burnt.
Diurnal The rectal temperature of normal healthy camels at
variation: rest may vary from about 34°C to more than 40°C.
Diurnal variations in the winter are usually in the
order of 2°C.
In summer the diurnal variations in the camel
deprived of drinking water may exceed 6°C, but in
animals with free access to water the variations are
similar to those found in the winter.
Feet The feet of camel are thick and characterized by
Adaptation leathery pads which spread widely on hitting the
ground, consequently preventing the animal from
sinking into the warm sand.
Herd Camels usually huddle together in order to cool
behaviour themselves as their body temperature is often less
than the surrounding air
How fur helps a) The light color of a camel’s fur reflects light
in heat energy, reducing heat transfer to its skin by
radiation radiation.
b) The trapped air in the camel’s fur functions as a
thin material, with space between the individual
molecules, minimizing heat transfer to the skin by
conduction.
c) Finally, the individual hairs of the camel’s fur
impede the movement of air, reducing heat
transfer to its skin by convection.

How temp a) The increase in body temperature means that heat


variation helps is stored in the body instead of being dissipated by
in water evaporation of water. At night the excess heat can be
conservation given off without expenditure of water.
b) The high body temperature means that heat gain
from the hot environment is reduced because the
temperature gradient is reduced.

Importance of Between the outer surface of their fur and their skin,
Fur temperatures can vary by as much as 30 degrees
Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit)––the difference
between a summer day and a snow day.

The importance of their fur is emphasized by the fact


that camels with shorn fur use much more water than
camels with fur intact.

Physical  The camel has many adaptive traits for their life
adaptations in the desert.
 They have wide feet for walking in sand.
 They have long eyelashes and thin, slit nostrils
that they can close to protect them from blowing
sand.
 They are adapted to survive a long time without
water and food.
 They have an extremely long large intestine that
absorbs every last drop of water from the foods
they eat.
Role of Fur & d) Camels have sweat glands distributed throughout
Sweat glands their skin, from which water removes body heat
through evaporation
e) However, camel skin is also covered by thick
fur––4 inches (10 cm) deep in places. This fur
doesn’t impede the evaporation of water though
Role of Hump  On a long trip, the fat in their hump will break
down to supply their body with the energy it
needs. By the end of a difficult trip, their humps
may lay over on their side, emptied of the fat that
filled them.
 When the camel finally reaches water, it can
drink a huge amount very quickly to replenish
itself, but it will take a little while to eat enough
to rebuild its humps.
Role of Furthermore, camel kidneys are able to efficiently
Kidney excrete highly concentrated urine consequently
tolerating high salt concentrations
Role of Camel nostrils have a muscular nature which allows
Nostrils camel to fully control its opening and closure, thus
avoiding sand inhalation in case of sandstorm events
Role of Moreover, camel platelets can resist high
Platelets temperatures of 43–45°C which cause marked
structural and functional alterations as compared to
human platelets.

Even higher thermal stress of 50°C that damages


human platelets has slight effects on camel cells and
does not critically disrupt their function
Role of Moreover, in the recumbent position, the camel
Sternum sternum takes a “plate like” conformation permitting
more air circulation
Selective brain Interestingly, the anatomical arrangement or
cooling distribution of camel arteries and veins help mitigate
mechanism the high blood temperature of the body reaching the
brain, thus protecting the animal from potential brain
damage. This mechanism is referred as “selective
brain cooling”

Ship of Camel legs are long compared to other desert animals


Desert and during walking each two legs move on one side,
rocking side-to-side, therefore giving another reason
for being nicknamed the ship of desert.
Spit behaviour A behavioral adaptation for which the camel is
famous is their reaction to the approach of a threat -
they spit!
Their cud is what they spit when stressed and
because it is partially digested, it smells bad. This
discourages predators from getting too close - and
people too!

Stiffle fold  Camel also lack a stifle fold. In other animals,


this is the skin that stretches from the abdomen to
the thighs. Camels don't have this, so when they
are lying down, air can continue to circulate
under their bodies.

 When camels lie down, the lack of a stifle fold


means that air can easily circulate under their
bodies, which helps to keep them cool

 But while camels are often thought of as being


found exclusively in hot areas, some can also be
found in much cooler regions.

Structure of Red blood cells (RBCs) of camelids are anucleated


RBCs with an exotic elliptical shape, to presumably
facilitate their flow inside blood vessels in
dehydrated animals
Surprisingly, camel RBCs possess distinctive
membrane phospholipid composition, resulting in a
more fluid membrane, and enabling them to bear
high osmotic variations without rupturing even in
cases of rapid re-hydration
Water drink Other physiological particularities include the
capability of dromedary to drink huge amounts of
water, reaching up to 200 liters at one time to
compensate for fluid loss

References:
 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6593249/
#:~:text=For%20instance%2C%20there%20is%20another,Ouajd
%20and%20Kamel%2C%202009).
 https://www.exploringnature.org/db/view/Adaptations-of-the-
Camels
 https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/
ajplegacy.1956.188.1.103?journalCode=ajplegacy
 https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-do-camels-survive-in-
deserts.html#:~:text=Desert%20sand%20can%20be
%20scorching,the%20abdomen%20to%20the%20thighs.

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