Translations:AY Honors/Dunes/Answer Key/27/en

Camel

Camel

Length: 9 feet, Height 7 feet at the shoulder. This mammal is characterized by long legs, long curved neck, long eyelashes, and small ears. They have the ability to close their nostrils against blowing sand and can eat hard, thorny vegetation. They store energy in their hump(s) and can manage losing more water than any other domestic animal. In fact, camels can tolerate water loss equivalent to over 1/3 of their body weight. All of these characteristics combined with their two toed feet with webbing make them great animals for crossing deserts and climbing over immense sand dunes. They are used for police patrol in Arab countries and in the cool season have been documented to walk 620 miles on a single journey over several days with very little or no water. They can drink over 20 gallons of water in a very short time.