How camels can survive in the desert...
Every animal species is born with the capacity for surviving in a specific habitat. But what are the internal processes that make an animal survive in extreme condition like the coldest or hottest weather? Animals like polar bears, penguins, jackrabbits and camels have developed the capacity for fitting under extreme conditions. There are a series of unbelievable processes that allow those animals to live normally in places where even human beings are not able to live without external aids. Here there are some explanations about the physical constitutions of camels (camelus dromedarius) and how those constitutions help these animals survive in the hottest and driest climate on earth.
Camels are provided with various physiological and behavioral mechanisms that enable it to survive on the Arabian and African desert. It is believed that during the past three years, camels’ physical constitution evolved to the point of permitting this animal to keep the necessary nutrients to not to suffer from dehydration because of the high temperatures (around 140º F [60º C] in the summer) in the places this animal lives. Camels are able to relinquish strict homeothermy and to allow its body temperature to change (be the opposite) with that of the environment. It means that even when the environment in Arabian and African desert is really hot, camels maintain a normal temperature in their body. They achieve this through their adjustable metabolic rate. When the desert temperature increases, the camels’ metabolic rate slows down. This action makes other internal systems to slow down too. For instance, due to slow dehydration, there is a drop in the amount of thyroxine produced by the thyroid gland. So, the camel respiratory rate also slows, resulting in the diminution of water loss via breathing.
Every animal species is born with the capacity for surviving in a specific habitat. But what are the internal processes that make an animal survive in extreme condition like the coldest or hottest weather? Animals like polar bears, penguins, jackrabbits and camels have developed the capacity for fitting under extreme conditions. There are a series of unbelievable processes that allow those animals to live normally in places where even human beings are not able to live without external aids. Here there are some explanations about the physical constitutions of camels (camelus dromedarius) and how those constitutions help these animals survive in the hottest and driest climate on earth.
Camels are provided with various physiological and behavioral mechanisms that enable it to survive on the Arabian and African desert. It is believed that during the past three years, camels’ physical constitution evolved to the point of permitting this animal to keep the necessary nutrients to not to suffer from dehydration because of the high temperatures (around 140º F [60º C] in the summer) in the places this animal lives. Camels are able to relinquish strict homeothermy and to allow its body temperature to change (be the opposite) with that of the environment. It means that even when the environment in Arabian and African desert is really hot, camels maintain a normal temperature in their body. They achieve this through their adjustable metabolic rate. When the desert temperature increases, the camels’ metabolic rate slows down. This action makes other internal systems to slow down too. For instance, due to slow dehydration, there is a drop in the amount of thyroxine produced by the thyroid gland. So, the camel respiratory rate also slows, resulting in the diminution of water loss via breathing.
Camel’s blood system also plays an important role in the conserving water process. Camel blood is very different from the one of other animals. Firstly, camel blood’s plasma contains more water than that of other animals, and secondly, the oval-shaped red blood cells stay intact even when the plasma surrounding the cells has a high osmolarity (normally, high osmolarity causes water to leave the red blood cells and results in a shrunken appearance). Due to this action, camels are free of any heatstroke. That means that even after a camel has lost more than half of its body water, its blood continues to circulate so heat does not occur.
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As mentioned in the first paragraph, camel’s behavioral mechanism has evolved positively. Camels take advantage of the shade cast of other camels sitting close to each other to create a large cool area. Another interesting camels’ behavior is that they face the sun because doing so their hump absorbs most of the direct sunlight. Also the hump is a concentration of body fat that serves as a kind of sun screen, protecting the camels’ vital organs. Camels even take advantage of their urine. Camels urinate on their legs so when the urine evaporates the blood vessels on the legs are cooled. Finally, camels also conserve water by excreting extremely dry feces and recycling water from the kidneys to the stomach and back to the blood.
After know how a camel can survive in the desert without drinking water during weeks. It is also important to know that this animal also has the capacity of drinking forty gallons of water and rehydrate its body in less than an hour.
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