North America was once home to many large mammals, known as megafauna, which became extinct at the end of the last Ice Age: the glacial maximum occurred about 20,000 to 18,000 years ago. By about 15,500 years ago, many of the large mammals were beginning to disappear in what is called the Pleistocene extinction. Among the many mammals which once lived in North America were camels.
According to the display at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum:
“Camels differ from other cud-chewing mammals (such as deer and cattle) because they have incisors and canine teeth in their upper jaw. Camels evolved in North America, where they became adapted to a wide variety of habitats. They subsequently migrated to Eurasia, Africa, and South 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.
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.”
Among the earliest ancestors of the camel was Poebrotherium wilsoni which lived in open forests. It first appears in the Oligocene (37-24 million years ago).
This Poebrotherium wilsoni is on display in the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.
Another early camel was Oxydactylus campestris which was widely distributed in North America from 26 million to 16 million years ago.
This Oxydactylus campestris is on display in the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.
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).
As with some of the other megafauna of these era, the ancient North American camels were hunted by American Indians.
Some Camels
Many museums have displays featuring the North American camels. Shown below are a few of these displays.
This depiction of the camel is on display in the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in Hagerman, Idaho.
Shown above is an artist’s depiction of Camelops hesternus (Yesterday’s Camel) which was somewhat larger than the modern camel. This is on display in the Wenatchee Valley Museum in Wenatchee, Washington.
Shown above is a life-size artist’s depiction of Camelops hesternus on display in the Franklin County Historical Society and Museum in Pasco, Washington.
According to the Franklin County display:
“Camelops hesternus was more closely related to the present-day alpaca and llama branch of the camel family tree. Camelops was one of the true camels—the ancestors of present-day domestic camels known from the deserts around the world.”
Shown above is the display of Yesterday’s Camel (Camelops hesternus) at the La Brea Tar Pits Museum.
Shown above is an artist’s depiction of Yesterday’s Camel at the La Brea Tar Pits Museum.
Another view of the Lga Brea Tar Pits Museum display.
Shown above is the skull of Camelops hesternus in the La Brea Tar Pits Museum
Yesterday’s Camel at the La Brea Tar Pits Museum
Shown above is Titanotylopus nebraskensis which is on display in the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.
This giant camel is found only in western North America from 5 million to 1 million years ago. Camels originated in North America and later migrated to Eurasia (about 8 million years ago) and to South America (about 3 million years ago). With regard to size, it had a shoulder height of about 12 feet and weighed about a ton. In comparison, the modern one-humped camel (Camelus dromedaries) stands only 6-7 feet at the shoulder and weighs 1,320 to 2,200 pounds.
Camels and American Indians
There is relatively little archaeological evidence supporting the idea that ancient American Indians systematically hunted camels or that camels were a major source of food. While the archaeological data shows that the ancient Indians were hunting camels along with some of the other megafauna, it is not clear how important camels were as a source of food or hides. Some of the ancient sites containing evidence of camels are described below.
At the hunting and fishing camp on Petronila Creek in Texas, there is some indication that Indian people were hunting camels, as well as mammoths, ground sloths, horses, and other animals as early as 16,000 BCE.
In Oregon, archaeologists at the Paisley Cave site, a temporary campsite which dates to 12,340 BCE, uncovered the bones of both camels and horses with cut marks on them suggesting that these animals had been butchered.
Sites in northern Florida and southern Georgia dating to about 11,000 BCE suggest that Indian people were hunting mastodon, mammoth, horse, camel, and giant land tortoise.
At a Clovis site in Colorado which dates to 11,000 BCE, DNA analysis of the protein residue on the tools of the Mahaffy Cache revealed that they were hunting bear, horse, wild sheep, and camel.
The Fossil Lake Camelid Kill Site (35LK525) contained camelid bones (probably Camelops hesterenus). This site, which dates to 10,000 BCE, is located at the northern end of the Fort Rock basin.
More Ancient America
Ancient America: Some Plateau Indian petroglyphs (museum tour)
Ancient America: Northeast Arizona, 560 BCE to 825 CE
Ancient America: A very short overview of the prehistory of the Grand Canyon
Ancient America: Kennewick Man (The Ancient One)
Ancient America: American Indians at Rancho La Brea
Ancient America: Columbia River Pictographs (Photo Diary)
Ancient America: Life in a California Rock Shelter (Photo Diary)
Ancient America: The Great Basin Archaic