CAMELIDS
– GEOGRAPHY
News: 2024 -
Year of Camelids
What's
in the news?
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Recently, the United Nations declared 2024 as the year of Camelids.
Camelids:
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Camelids are members of the biological
family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda.
Species
of Camelids:
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The seven
extant members of this group are dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild
Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicunas, and guanacos.
Features:
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Camelids are large, strictly herbivorous animals with slender necks and long
legs.
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They have three-chambered stomachs.
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They have a unique type of antibodies,
which lack the light chain, in addition to the normal antibodies found in other
mammals.
○
These so-called heavy-chain antibodies are being used to develop single-domain
antibodies with potential pharmaceutical applications.
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Camelids do not have hooves; rather, they have two-toed feet with toenails
and soft foot pads.