How Much Water Can a Camel Drink in 10 Minutes?
The Dromedary and Bactrian camels can be found in the deserts of Arabia and Eastern Asia. These camels have evolved with adaptations that let them survive under the extreme conditions of the desert. The most important of these adaptations is the one they developed to survive periods of time without water.
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Types of Camels
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The two types of desert camels are the Dromedary and Bactrian. The Dromedary lives in Arabia and has one hump. The Bactrian lives in the steppes of eastern Asia and has two humps. The humps are not used to store water as is commonly believed; instead fat is stored in the humps to be used as energy when there is a food shortage.
Blood Adaptations
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Camels can safely lose up to 30 percent of their body weight in water, which would kill most other animals. A camel is able to do this because its circulatory system can maintain fluid levels by taking fluid from the body's tissue. Its red blood cells are resistant to dehydration due to hydrophilic hemoglobin and can circulate easily at increased blood viscosities due to an oval shape. A camel can lose up to 40 percent of the water in its blood safely during times of dehydration.
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Waste Adaptations
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The camel's urine is the consistency of syrup with two times the salt content of sea water and its feces is dry enough to be used for cooking immediately after excretion. This limits the amount of water that is lost through waste excretion.
Body Temperature
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A camel's body temperature can rise and fall from 97.7 to 107.6 degrees. This temperature range allows a camel to regulate its body temperature eliminating the need to sweat and decreasing water loss.
Water Intake
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Camels can drink 30 gallons of water in 10 minutes. In other animals that much water would result in water intoxication, which potentially could cause death. The camel's hydrophilic hemoglobin can swell up to 240 percent of its normal size. The same hemoglobin is resistant to hyperhydration, avoiding osmotic problems when large amounts of water are ingested.
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