One Hump or Two Tells You the Species
A camel is a desert mammal with humps that store fat, not water. The number of humps separates two species.
A camel is a large desert mammal with one or two humps. Two facts get repeated wrongly: the humps store fat, not water, and the number of them names the species — the one-humped dromedary of Arabia and North Africa, the two-humped Bactrian of Central Asia. A useful memory trick is that the letters D and B lying on their sides show one bump and two. A camel's water tolerance comes from its blood cells and kidneys, not its back.
- A desert mammal. *A caravan of camels.*
- Dromedary — one hump. *An Arabian dromedary.*
- Bactrian — two humps. *A Bactrian camel.*
- Camel hair — the fabric. *A camel-hair coat.*
- The straw that broke the camel's back — a final small burden. *The last straw.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | camel | A young camel. |
| Plural | camels | A line of camels. |
| Adjective | camel | Camel hair. |
| Species | dromedary | One hump. |
| Species | Bactrian | Two humps. |
- The caravan crossed with forty camels.Transport.
- Bactrian camels have two humps.Species.
- That was the straw that broke the camel's back.Proverbial.
Camel facts worth keeping
- Humps store fat, a reserve of energy, not water
- Dromedary — one hump, Arabia and North Africa
- Bactrian — two humps, Central Asia, thicker coat
- Wild Bactrian camels are critically endangered
- A camel can drink over a hundred litres in one session
Old English *camel*, from Latin *camelus*, from Greek *kamelos*, ultimately from a Semitic source — compare Hebrew *gamal* and Arabic *jamal*.
Do camel humps hold water?
No. They store fat, which the animal metabolises for energy. Water tolerance comes from other adaptations.
How do you remember dromedary and Bactrian?
Turn the letters on their side: D has one bump, B has two.