Camelidae in the context of Paracamelus

A camel (from Latin: camelus and Ancient Greek: κάμηλος (kamēlos) from Ancient Semitic: gāmāl) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide food (camel milk and meat) and textiles (fiber and felt from camel hair). Camels are working animals especially suited to their desert habitat and are a vital means of transport for passengers and cargo. There are three surviving species of camel. The one-humped dromedary makes up 94% of the world's camel population, and the two-humped Bactrian camel makes up 6%. The wild Bactrian camel is a distinct species that is not ancestral to the domestic Bactrian camel, and is now critically endangered, with fewer than 1,000 individuals.

The word camel is also used informally in a wider sense, where the more correct term is "camelid", to include all seven species of the family Camelidae: the true camels (the above three species), along with the "New World" camelids: the llama, the alpaca, the guanaco, and the vicuña, which belong to the separate tribe Lamini. Camelids originated in North America during the Eocene, with the ancestor of modern camels, Paracamelus, migrating across the Bering land bridge into Asia during the late Miocene, around 6 million years ago.

Quipu (/ˈkiːpuː/ KEE-poo), also spelled khipu (Ayacucho Quechua: kipu, [ˈkipu]; Cusco Quechua: khipu, [kʰipu]), are record-keeping devices fashioned from knotted cords. They were historically used by various cultures in the central Andes of South America, most prominently by the Inca Empire.

A quipu usually consists of cotton or camelid fiber cords, and contains categorized information based on dimensions like color, order, and number. The Inca, in particular, used knots tied in a decimal positional system to store numbers and other values in quipu cords. Depending use and the amount of information stored, quipus can have anywhere from a few to several thousand cords.

Arctodus is an extinct genus of short-faced bears that inhabited North America during the Pleistocene (about 2.6 Mya until 12,800 years ago). The two recognized species are the lesser short-faced bear (Arctodus pristinus) and the giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus). Of these species, A. simus was larger, is known from more complete remains, and is considered one of the best-known members of North America's extinct Ice Age megafauna. A. pristinus was largely restricted to the Early Pleistocene of the eastern United States, whereas A. simus had a broader range, with most finds being from the Late Pleistocene of the United States, Mexico and Canada. A. simus evolved from A. pristinus, but both species likely overlapped in the Middle Pleistocene. Both species are relatively rare in the fossil record.

Today considered to be an enormous omnivore, Arctodus simus is believed to be one of the largest known terrestrial carnivorans that has ever existed. Arctodus, like other bears, was highly sexually dimorphic. Adult A. simus ranged between 300 and 950 kilograms (660 and 2,090 lb), with females clustering at ≤500 kg (1,100 lb), and males around 800 kg (1,800 lb). The largest males stood at 1.67 m (5 ft 5.7 in) at the shoulder, and up to 3.4 m (11 ft) tall on their rear legs. Studies suggest that A. simus browsed on C₃ vegetation and consumed browsing herbivores such as deer, camelids, and tapir. The species preferred temperate open woodlands, but was adaptable, taking advantage of many habitats and feeding opportunities.

A gelding (/ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated camels. The equivalent terms for castrated male cattle are steer or bullock, and wether for sheep and goats.

Castration renders the male animal calmer, better-behaved, less sexually aggressive, and more responsive to training efforts. This makes the animal generally more suitable as an everyday working animal, or as a pet in the case of companion animals. The gerund and participle "gelding" and the infinitive "to geld" refer to the castration procedure itself.

Haircloth is commonly understood as a stiff, unsupple fabric made from coarse fibre from camelids, bovines, horses, goats, rabbits, hares and reindeers. However, a softer variation is valued in the textile and fashion industries for their rarity, aesthetics and comfort. This is because there are two types of hair used in making haircloth; a rougher outer “guard coat”, and a softer undercoat. The outer coats are used in coarse fabrics, often applied to upholstery, carpets, underskirts and hairshirts, or cilices, while "luxury fabrics" use the softer undercoat.

The Huacaya alpaca is a breed of alpaca (Lama pacos) that has a unique appearance and fiber quality. This breed is the most popular alpaca breed with population numbers reaching 2.8 million in Peru alone. They share biological components with other species in the Camelidae family. Their digestive tract, nutrition requirements, and herd behavior mirror that of all camelids. They also survive amidst similar predation, poison, and disease threats that endanger all camelids alike.

The chilihueque/chiliweke or hueque/weke (Lama araucana) is an extinct hypothetical species of South American camelid. It lived in central and southern Chile until the colonial period.

Palaeolama (lit. 'ancient llama') is an extinct genus of lamine camelids that existed from the Pleistocene to the Holocene (1.9 to 0.0034 Ma). Their range extended from North America to the intertropical region of South America.

Tylopoda (meaning "calloused foot") is a suborder of terrestrial herbivorous even-toed ungulates belonging to the order Artiodactyla. They are found in the wild in their native ranges of South America, Africa, and Asia, while Australian feral camels are introduced. The group has a long fossil history in North America and Eurasia. Tylopoda appeared during the Eocene around 50 million years ago.

Tylopoda has only one extant family, Camelidae, which includes camels, llamas, guanacos, alpacas and vicuñas. This group was much more diverse in the past, containing a number of extinct families in addition to the ancestors of living camelids (see below).

Camelini is a tribe of camelids including all camelids more closely related to modern camels (Camelus) than to Lamini (which contains llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos), from which camelines split approximately 17 million years ago. The tribe originated in North America, with the genus Paracamelus migrating over the Bering Land Bridge into Eurasia during the Late Miocene, around 6 million years ago, becoming ancestral to Camelus. The last member of Camelini in North America was Camelops, which became extinct as part of the Quaternary extinction event at the end of the Late Pleistocene, around 12,000 years ago.