A hybrid camel is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

between a

Bactrian camel The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), also known as the Mongolian camel or domestic Bactrian camel, is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped drom ...

(''Camelus bactrianus'') and

dromedary The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius'' or ;), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel, or one-humped camel, is a large even-toed ungulate, of the genus ''Camelus'', with one hump on its back. It is the tallest of the three species of ...

(''Camelus dromedarius'').

Names

Hybrid camels have different names depending on zone and language. Some names include turkoman, tülu, bukht, nar, iner, iver, majen, bertuar, yaml, dromano, and dromel.

Tülu

A tülu camel is a breed of camel that results from mating a male

with a female

. This breed is sometimes called an F1 hybrid camel. The resulting camel is larger than either a Bactrian or a dromedary, and has traditionally been used as a

draft animal A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for t ...

. This breed of camel is also the breed used in the sport of

camel wrestling Camel wrestling ( Turkish ''deve güreşi'') is a sport in which two male Tülü camels wrestle, typically in response to a female camel in heat being led before them. It is most common in the Aegean region of Turkey, but is also practiced in oth ...

. Tülu camels have one large hump.

Khorasan

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

camels are a double-humped sturdy crossbreed between Arabian and Central Asian species. They were common in the caravans of

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Characteristics

Generally a ''Camelus bactrianus'' × ''Camelus dromedarius'' hybrid is called an F1. It usually has a single large hump, sometimes slightly divided, and is larger than both parents, reaching at the shoulder and up to . This type of camel is extremely strong and is useful for hard work such as

plowing A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

and carrying loads. It was also used in war by the Ottoman Turks. It is generally docile and tame. It is fertile. Pure camel hybrids are mostly found in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

; but they can be found in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

and

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. The F1 can be further hybridized. An F1 female can mate with a male Bactrian camel: the result is a B1 backcross Bactrian. It generally has two humps and is faster than a common Bactrian and stronger than a dromedary. It can walk over

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

, and

mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

and is suitable even for mountain trails; this type can be found mostly in Kazakhstan. When an F1 female mates with a dromedary, the result is an B1 backcross dromedary, a slightly stronger dromedary and a rare type nowadays.

Other camelidae hybridizations

* Cama, a hybrid with

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 ...

and

llama The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with othe ...

. *

Huarizo A huarizo is a cross between a male llama and a female alpaca. The most common hybrid between South American camelids, huarizo tend to be much smaller than llamas, with their fibre being longer. Huarizo are sterile in the wild, but recent genetic ...

, a cross between male

and female

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can successfu ...

Llamanaco A hybrid camel is a hybrid between a Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus'') and dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius''). Names Hybrid camels have different names depending on zone and language. Some names include turkoman, tülu, bukht, nar, ine ...

, a cross between

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

and

has been reported in the wild in the

Magallanes Region The Magallanes Region (), officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region ( es, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and second lea ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

References

External links

Bactrian Camels and Bactrian-Dromedary HybridsIntact Ottoman 'war camel' found in Austrian cellar
Camelid hybrids Domesticated animals Camels {{eventoedungulate-stub