How have camels adapted to their environment

How have camels adapted to their environment?

Camels have lived in deserts for very a long time and because of this have adapted to the hot temperatures. Are you aware that camels can drink up to 46 litres of water at one time? This helps them to survive in the desert.

Deserts are very dry and hot. The temperature is around 42 c. It doesn’t rain a lot in the desert so there isn’t a lot of plants and trees that grow there. This means it is hard for camels to find food and water which is why their bodies store fat.

With such high temperatures these animals need the pads on their feet to help them walk on the hot sand. Camels have long thick eyelashes to protect their eyes from the sand. This is important because there are lots of sandstorms in a desert. They have thick lips to protect their mouths when they are eating things like cactus. A cactus plant has very sharp thorns but also has a water supply which is why camels search for these plants.

A camel’s diet is made up of twigs, thorns, bones and fat from their humps. When camels are travelling in the desert food is often hard to find which is why the fat stored in their humps is a very important source of energy.

These changes have meant that the camel survives and thrives in the hot and arid conditions of the desert.