AnimalsThe dromedary is the one-humped camel. Its hump stores fat, not water. It can go many days without drinking, then take in a very large amount at once. Long eyelashes and nostrils that close keep out blowing sand. It is the animal of the Thar Desert.
Quick facts
- Scientific name
- Camelus dromedarius
- Group
- Mammals
- Diet
- Herbivore (eats plants)
- Lives in
- North Africa, West Asia and India
- Habitat
- Deserts and dry scrub
- A young one is called
- calf
- A group is called
- caravan or train
- Conservation status
- No category in our data
How it is classified
Scientists sort living things into groups within groups. Reading down, each step is a smaller group, ending with the species itself.
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Mammalia
- Order Artiodactyla
- Family Camelidae
- Genus Camelus
- Species Camelus dromedarius
Other members of the family Camelidae on this site: Bactrian camel.
More distant relatives in the order Artiodactyla: blackbuck, chital, cow, gaur, giraffe, goat, hippopotamus, moose, nilgai, pig, reindeer, sambar.
Classification follows the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Other reference works arrange some groups differently. How classification works.
Is it in danger?
No Red List category for the dromedary camel was found in our data source. What the categories mean.