Camelidae

A camel (from and () 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

The llama (; or ) (Lama glama) is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era.

The guanaco ( ; Lama guanicoe) is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the domesticated llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids; the other species is the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations.

Camelidae is a family of mammals belonging to the ungulate order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates) and the only living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant species of camelid are divided into two tribes, Camelini, including dromedary camels, Bactrian camels and wild Bactrian camels, and Lamini, including llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos.

The vicuña (Lama vicugna) or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled vicugna, its latin specific name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes; the other camelid is the guanaco, which lives at lower elevations. Vicuñas are relatives of the llama, and are now believed to be the wild ancestor of domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their coats. Vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can be shorn only every three years and has to be caught from the wild. When knitted together, the p

genus of mammals

Lamini (members are called lamines) is a tribe of the subfamily Camelinae. It contains one extant genus with four species, all exclusively from South America: llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos. The former two are domesticated species, while the latter two are only found in the wild. The four species can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Additionally, there are several extinct genera.

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, ar

Camelinae is a subfamily of artiodactyls of the family Camelidae. Camelinae include the tribes Camelini and Lamini. A third tribe, Camelopini, created by S. D. Webb (1965), was formerly included, but was discarded by J. A. Harrison (1979) after it was shown to be polyphyletic: it consisted of the genera Camelops and Megatylopus, which were moved to Camelini and Lamini respectively.

Megatylopus (also known as the North American camel) is an extinct genus of large camel, endemic to North America from the Late Miocene to the Pliocene, existing for approximately . Fossil distribution ranged from North Carolina to California. It stood about tall.

The alpaca (Lama pacos) is a domesticated species of South American camelid. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recently, alpacas may be found on farms and ranches worldwide, with thousands of animals born and raised annually. Alpacas are especially popular in North America, Europe, and Australia.

Arab oral tradition