Camelops
Name: Camelops
(Camel face).
Phonetic: Cam-el-ops.
Named By: Joseph Leidy - 1854.
Synonyms: Camelops conidens, Camelops
maximus, Eschatius.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia,
Artiodactyla, Camelidae, Camelopini.
Species: C.
hesternus (type), C. kansanus, C.
minidokae, C. sulcatus, C.
traviswhitei.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Around 2.1 meters tall at the shoulder.
Known locations: Across North America.
Time period: Late Pliocene through to end of the
Pleistocene.
Fossil representation: Many specimens.
Although
certainly not the only North American camel known to us, Camelops
seems to have been the last to go extinct. The theories as to why
this happened are controversial but in the case of Camelops
human
hunting was certainly a contributing factor since evidence of butchery
(the processing of a carcass for food) has been found on some
Camelops fossils from the time that they
disappeared. It is important
to remember however that the climate of North America was undergoing
considerable changes during the end of the Pleistocene as well,
something that would have reduced Camelops
populations even further.
It
is not certain if Camelops
had a prominent hump or even humps like today’s camels, but the
vertebrae of Camelops do have prominent neural
spines similar to the
Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius). By comparison
it is at least
possible that Camelops may have had a hump. Some
plant remains have
been found between the teeth of Camelops,
analysis of which suggests
that Camelops was a generalist herbivore that fed
upon whatever plants
were available.
In
2007 Camelops, or
more accurately the ‘Wal-Mart Camel’ as it was dubbed in the
media, made headlines when a construction crew at a Wal-Mart site in
Mesa, Arizona discovered the remains of two juvenile Camelops
while
digging a hole for a citrus tree. These remains have since been
handed over to the Geology Museum of Arizona.
Further reading
- A new species of camel (genus Camelops) from the
Pleistocene of
Aguascalientes, Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist 19(4):341-345 - O.
Mooser & W. W. Dalquist - 1975.
- On the possible utilization of Camelops by early
man in North
America. - Quaternary Research 22 (2): 216–230 - Gary Haynes &
Dennis Stanford - 1984.
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