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Taxonomy and Evolution
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Taxonomy
The most agreed upon classification for camelidae is as follows:
Order: Artiodaetyla
Artiodactyla is the order that includes all even-toed, hoofed mammals. The size of animals within this order is very variable. The main constant characteristic is the anatomy of the foot which has an even number of digits (2 in the case of camelidae). The order is represented by 9 recent families: Suidae (pigs), Tayassuidae (i.e colored peccary), Hippopotamidae (hippopo tamuses), Tragulidae (chevrotains, mouse deer), Cervidae (deer), Giraffidae (giraffes), Antilocapridae (i.e. American antelopes, pronghorn antelopes), Bovidae (i.e. elands, buffalos, bison, cattle, sheep, goats, gazelles, oryx, waterbucks...), and Camelidae (dromedaries, Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, guanacos and vicuñas).
These mammals exist throughout the world except for Australia and New Zealand, Antartica and isolated islands. Camelidae belong to the sub-order of Tylopoda or padded foot animals.
Family: Camelidae
The camelidae family contains 2 subfamilies (Camelinae and Laminae) divided into 3 recent genera (Camelus, Lama and Vicuña) with a total of 6 species. All these species have 37 pairs of chromosomes (72 autosomes and 2 heterosomes).
Genus: Camelus (2 species)
The genus Camelus includes two different species:
Camelus dromedarius: known also as the single-humped camel. Arabian camel or dromedary.
Camelus bactrianus: known as the double-humped camel or Asian camel.
Genus: Lama (3 species)
The genus llama is confined to the South American continent and includes 3 species:
Lama glama: the llama Lama pacos: the alpaca Lama guanacoe: the Guanaco
Lama pacos: the alpaca
Lama guanacoe: the Guanaco
Genus: Vicugna (one species)
Vicugna vicugna: the vicuña
Evolution of the camelidae.
Fossil discoveries suggest that all camelidae originated from the same ancestor which lived in North America about 40 million years ago. The distinction of laminae from camelinae may have started in the Eocene epoch and been completed in the Pleistocene some 3 to 4 million years ago. Camelinae migrated to Asia across the Bering Strait when it was still a land bridge and formed the Old World camelids (Camelus dromedarius and Camelus bactrianus) whereas the laminae migrated to South America to form the 4 New-World species of camelidae. Tandem satellite arrays and interspersed repetitive DNA components of all South American camelidae and Camelus bactrianus have been identified. Comparison of these DNA components by Southern hybridization techniques using camel restriction fragments as probes, indicates that satellite DNA in these species has been conserved from a common ancestor dating back 5 to 10 million years.(19) Recent studies using analysis of DNA sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene confirm the time of divergence of the Camelinae and Laminae tribes derived from fossil records. The origin of alpacas and llamas cannot be determined because hybridization occurred in the ancestry of both species.(17) The close genomic kinship of New World camelidae is demonstrated by the analysis of DNA composition and in-situ hybridization of satellite fractions.(18)

The llama and guanaco have undifferentiated repetitive DNA patterns which supports the theory that llamas are a domesticated form of guanaco. In addition, vicuña patterns are specific and justify their classification in a separate genus. The alpaca displays intermediate DNA patterns suggesting that this species originated from a cross breeding between the guanaco and the vicuña.(19)
The dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) was domesticated some 5000 years ago (before 3000 B.C.) in the Arabian peninsula regions of Hadramout, Southern Yemen, and Oman. The name dromedary is derived from "dromos" or "road" in Greek, probably because they were initially used for transportation. The dromedary quickly became an integral part of the nomadic culture which was propagated throughout history from the Middle East to North Africa and from the Sahara desert to the sub-Saharan and other African countries. The dromedary in the Eastern part of Africa may have originated from individuals that were transported across the Red Sea from Yemen to Somalia and Ethiopia. In recent history (1800's), the dromedary was introduced to the USA and Australia.
The Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), was domesticate a little bit later than the dromedary (around 2500 B.C.) in Turkmanestan and northern Iran. It was used as early as 300 B.C. as a pack animal and, with its cross with the dromedary, constituted most of the caravans trading along the famous silk road. There are only a few Bactrian camels left in the wild.
Two of the South American camelidae (the llama and alpaca) were domesticated several thousand years ago. The alpaca, especially valued for its fine fiber, became an important economic asset and a spiritual symbol for the Incan civilization. Domestication of the llama and alpaca dates back to 4000 years B.C.. The use of alpacas as a production animal was fully developed by the 11th and 12th centuries. This development took place under the Chimu and Chibcha cultures then spread to other places from the Titicaca Plateau. The name Alpaca comes from the Colla language and means spotted (allcca) and cinnamon (pacco) colored.
References
1. Escobar, R. C. 1984. Animal Breeding and Production of American camelids. Lima, Peru: Talleres Graficos de ABRIL.
2. FAO. 1982. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS). Internet address: http//193.43.36.7:80/dad-is/, DAD-IS @ fao.org.
3. Kohler Rollefson. I. 1992. The camel breeds of India in social and historical perspective. Animal Genetic Resources Information: 53-64.
4. Kohler Rollefson. I. 1992. The Raika dromedary breeders of Rajasthan: a pastoral system in crisis. Nomadic Peoples: 74-83.
5. Kohler Rollefson, I. 1993. About camel breeds: a reevaluation of current classification systems. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics. 110:66-73.
6. Kohler Rollefson. I. 1995. Patoralists: Stewards of livestock genetic diversity. Journal of Camel Practice and Research. 2:157-158.
7. Kohler Rollefson, I., and H. S. Rathor. 1995. The Malvi Camel. Journal of Camel Practice and Research. 2:14-16.
8. Ordonez, T. H. 1994. Llamas, llama production and llama nutrition in the Ecuador highlands. Journal of Arid Environments. 26:67-71.
9. Schwartz, H. J. 1989. Productivity and utilisation of the one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) in Africa. Consultant Report to FAO, Rome and Berlin.
10. Schwartz, H. J., R. Dolan, and A. J. Wilson. 1983. Camel production in Kenya and its constraints. I. Productivity. Trop. Anim. Health Prod. 15:169-179.
11. Schwartz, H. J., and M. G. H. Walsh. 1990. Improving Reproductive Performance in the Dromedary: Consequences to Production Systems. Proceedings of the Workshop 'Is it Possible to Improve the Reproductive Performance of the Camel?1 - Paris: 409-425.
12. Schwartz, H. J.. A. J. Wilson. R. Dolan. J. O. Evans, and J. Fairhall. 1982. Produktionsleistungen von Kamelen (Camelus dromedarius) in ausgewahter gebieten Kenias. Prakt. Tierarzt. 63:964-969.
13. Shereif, N. A.; and G. A. Alhadrami. 1996. Detection of genetic variation in racing camels using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. Journal of Camel Practice and Research. 3:91-95.
14. Stanley, H.. M. Kadwell, and J. Wheeler. 1994. Molecular evolution of the family Camelidae: a mitochondrial DNA study. Proc. Royal Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci. 256:1-6.
15. Vidal-Rioja, L., L. Semorile, N. Bianchi, and J. Padron. 1987. DNA composition in South American camelids. I. Characterization and in situ hybridization of satellite DNA fractions. Genetica. 72:137-46.
16. Vidal-Rioja, L.. A. Zambelli. and L. Semorile. 1994. An assessment of the relationships among species of Camelidae by satellite DNA comparisons. Hereditas. 121:283-90.
17. Wardeh. M. F.. A. A. Zaied. H. S. Horier. M. F. Wardeh. R. T. Wilson, and A. A. Zaied. 1990. Camel breeds in Arab Africa. Proceedings The Arab Symposium On Camel Husbandry and Diseases and Methods of their Control. Alger. Algeria. 24-26 March 1990.
18. Wilson. R. T. 1984. The camel. London. Longman. 223 pages.
19. Wilson. R. T.. and D. Bourzat. 1988. Past, present and future research on the one-humped camel in Africa. J. Arid. Environ. 14:1-15.
20. Zayed. A., G. Ghadari, and A. Chraiha. 1991. Camels in the Arab World. 1st Edition, University Omar Mokhtar, A1 Baida, Libya.
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