Camels survive in the driest, hottest, most barren spots on Earth. And somehow they manage to get enough food; but what do they eat in places that seem devoid of life?
All three species of camels — Camelus dromedarius, Camelus bactrianus and Camelus ferus — have evolved several adaptations to make desert-living possible, according to the Natural History Museum, London(opens in new tab) (NHM). In addition to the one or two humps they sport — which are made of fat and do not act as water tanks — they also specialized lips for desert foods.
They have a split upper lip, with each half moving separately to allow the animal to graze close to the ground to eat short grasses — a must in the desert where everything is slow-growing, according to the San Diego Zoo(opens in new tab).
Their lips are also leathery and tough yet still flexible, which means camels can break off and eat both thorny and salty plants (such as saltbush), the zoo said. Fleshy protrusions called papillae also line their mouths to both protect the mouth from poke-y foods and help the camels manipulate and swallow that food, according to the NHM.
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Dromedary camels — which sport one hump — primarily eat "thorny plants, dry grasses and saltbush," the Oakland zoo reported, adding that the animals also will eat just about any desert plant available. Overall, these camels eat grasses, leaves and twigs from any plant in the desert, along with green shoots of the saxaul shrub in the genus Haloxylon, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance(opens in new tab). In addition, they eat the stems and foliage from various desert shrubs in the genuses Salsola, Ephedra and Zygophyllum, according to the zoo alliance.