How camels survive in the desert: everything is much more perfect than just fat in the humps

There are not many living creatures that can survive in conditions of practically waterless sand deserts. These are mainly insects, snakes and lizards. Among the mammals, one can name the fox Fenech, camel and kangaroo. Of course, a camel among all of them has the largest body weight, reaching up to 800 kilograms. And it is more difficult for everyone else to maintain the normal functioning of the body in such difficult conditions. But, looking at the caravan of camels, serene walking along the Sahara, you won’t say that it’s hard for them to go, and even carry 300-600 kilograms of payload. How do they manage to comfortably exist in these lifeless deserts scorched by the hot sun?

Even children know that camels can do without water and food for a long time due to the fat accumulated in the humps. But other unique features of the “desert ships” became known not so long ago.

Camels have a unique blood structure. This is the only mammal that has oval red blood cells, not round ones. This feature ensures their movement through the blood vessels in the case when the blood nevertheless becomes more thick and viscous due to severe dehydration of the body. With general dehydration of the body, the blood of camels is able to retain moisture in a larger amount compared to other animals, therefore, in their body there is no slowdown in blood circulation.

Camels have a peculiar shape of the nostrils. Water vapor, which is contained in exhaled air, condenses in the nose and flows into the animal’s mouth. As a result, he exhales almost dry air, thereby saving precious fluid.

A camel is able to raise and lower the temperature of its body to reduce moisture loss. At night, his body temperature drops to 34-35 ° C, and during the day it slowly rises to 41 ° C. Due to this increase in temperature in the body of camels, water is saved, since sweating is reduced. Thanks to this system of thermoregulation, the camel's body loses moisture 3 times slower than, for example, a donkey trapped in the desert.

The most incredible ability of a camel is that it can not drink for more than two weeks without any negative health effects. Don’t drink at all. For comparison, a person in desert conditions is able to live without water for more than a day. In this case, a camel can lose almost a third of its mass, which is deadly for almost any creature, and then quickly make up for it. Camels can lose up to 25% of the liquid without signs of dehydration, while other mammals can die with a loss of 15%. Moreover, camels can drink salt water.

Amazing unpretentiousness in food allows the camel to be fed very scarce food. He chews dry grass, twigs with thorns, he can eat an old basket or a bed of date leaves. He, like other ruminants, re-chews food. Of course, a camel will gladly eat juicy green food, but it is interesting that with prolonged use of good food, he feels unwell.

All of the above delights and surprises. But what has been under the scrutiny of physiologists and doctors in recent times is the unique immunity of a camel. Its immune system is so perfect that it is not susceptible to most viral diseases from which other mammals die. Camels, for example, are completely unresponsive to foot and mouth disease and cattle plague. Antibodies of a camel organism are much simpler than a human, therefore, scientists believe that they can be artificially recreated. Moreover, antibodies produced by camels are very small in size. They are easy to enter into human tissue or even a cell. So, they can be used to combat human viral diseases.

Camel milk also has valuable properties. It turns out that it spoils much more slowly compared to other types of milk, because it contains the natural antibiotic lactoferrin, as well as a group of proteins with antiviral and antifungal properties. In the milk of camels, scientists have found a huge amount of immunoglobulins, powerful immunostimulating substances. It is interesting that the immunoglobulins contained in camel milk are noticeably smaller than the substances contained in the human body. For this reason, immunostimulants from a camel product can easily penetrate the tissues of human organisms. It is these substances in the scientific world that are considered effective protection against autoimmune diseases. Another amazing feature of milk is the insulin-like substances contained in it. Therefore, it is useful for people with diabetes.

Watch the video: What's Inside A Camel Hump? (April 2024).