Like horses, camels originally evolved in North America. Camels first appeared in North American about 50 million years ago and about 7 million years ago camels migrated to Asia where they evolved into the modern Bactrian and dromedary camels. About 2 million years ago, camels migrated South America where they evolved into llamas.
The Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in Hagerman, Idaho, has a display on the ancient North American camel. According to the display:
“Camelids are considered browsers that feed on a mixture of vegetation that includes grasses, leaves and small branches. They differ among most herbivores in that they have a set of incisors that are canine-like (called caniform incisors) which are used to strip vegetation and for defense.”
Ian Lange, in his book Ice Age Mammals of North America, reports:
“Camelids are also ruminants, but they differ from other ruminants in having a simpler three-chambered stomach and distinctive splayed toes with tough pads that support their weight on soft surfaces like sand.”
Ian Lange also reports:
“Camelids have long, thin necks and legs, and no horns. They walk on large, flat feet, or more precisely, on big, thick, padded tows with large toenails.”
During the Pleistocene, six genera of camelids were in North America. The largest of these was the Nebraska Camel (Titanotylopus nebraskensis) which weighed more than a ton and was about 12 feet tall at the shoulder. Yesterday’s Camel (Camelops hesternus), also called the Western Camel, evolved about 300,000 years ago and went extinct between 12,600 and 10,800 years ago. Other Pleistocene North American camels include the Kansas Camel (Camelops kansanus) and the Huerfano Camel (Camelops huerfanensis).
More Paleontology
Paleontology 101: Sloths at La Brea Tar Pits
Paleontology 101: The Dire Wolf (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: North American Horses, Rhinos, and Camels (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: Wolves, Dogs, Cats, and Bears (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: The Mesozoic--The Age of Dinosaurs (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: The Cenozoic--The Age of Mammals (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: The California Pleistocene (Photo Diary)