''Camelus knoblochi'' is an extinct species of

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

from the Pleistocene. Remains are known from several localities in the south of

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

(northern

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, the

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Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...

, Middle and Lower

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

regions), in the east and west of northern

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, as well as in

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

, and the

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...

, and in the south of western

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, southern and western

Transbaikalia Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia. The steppe and ...

, and northern and northeastern

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Description

''Camelus knoblochi'' was one of larger species of

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

camels of the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

, standing over tall and in weight while the recently described '' Camelus moreli'' might have been either comparable in size or taller.

Paleoecology

The stratigraphical range of ''C. knoblochi'' includes most of the Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene. This species had its maximum distribution and highest abundance in the Late Middle Pleistocene, when its range extended from Eastern Europe to Transbaikalia. In the Late Pleistocene, ''C. knoblochi'' inhabited a considerable part of Asia from 391 to 541N between the Urals and northeastern China. Palynological data and paleozoological contexts indicate that ''C. knoblochi'' lived in moist

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

and forest–steppe environments and fed mainly on grassy vegetation, with sprigs and leaves also included. Their extinction was likely caused by climatic aridization during the Late Pleistocene accompanied by the drastic change of plant communities. In this climatic situation, camels were displaced to relatively extreme conditions of dry steppe and semi-deserts because of high competition with more efficient phyllophagous and herbivorous animals such as large

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

and ruminants. ''C. knoblochi'' was eventually rendered extinct through competition with the living Bactrian camel, which is better adapted to severe environments and to feeding on less nutritious vegetation. The study of paleolithic remains from Mongolia's

Tsagaan Agui Tsagaan Agui (White Cave) or Tsagaan Cave located in southwest-central Mongolia, is a stratified Paleolithic cave site with a calcium carbonate crystal-lined internal chamber. The cave has yielded abundant archaeological materials, some perhaps as o ...

site suggest that C. knoblochi became extinct in Mongolia and in Asia roughly 27,000 years ago) as a result of climate changes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65643434 Prehistoric mammals of Europe Prehistoric mammals of Asia Pleistocene mammals of Europe Pleistocene mammals of Asia Pleistocene extinctions Prehistoric camelids