A sandstorm rolls across the desert. A camel kneels, closes its slit-like nostrils and lets its long double eyelashes shield its eyes. It has not had a drink for days, and it is in no hurry to find one.
The main adaptations of a camel are a hump of fat (not water), the power to drink up to 145 litres (32 gallons) in one session, a body temperature that rises by day to save sweat, and nostrils, eyelashes and feet built for sand. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says a camel can go a week or more without water.
3 key adaptations of a camel
- Structural: a hump that stores up to 36 kg (80 lb) of fat as an energy reserve.
- Physiological: its body temperature rises by day, so it sweats less and saves water.
- Behavioural: it eats salty, thorny plants that other grazers avoid.
Key takeaways
- The hump holds fat, not water.
- In one study, camels survived 19 days without water and lost 23% of their body weight.
- A camel can drink up to 145 litres (32 gallons) at once, about a bathtub full.
There are three kinds of camel. The dromedary has one hump. The Bactrian camel has two. Both are farm animals today. The third kind, the wild camel of China and Mongolia, has two humps and is rare. The adaptations below work in all three, though most lab studies were done on dromedaries.
What are the three types of camel adaptations?
Camel adaptations come in three kinds. Structural adaptations are body parts, like the hump, double eyelashes, closing nostrils and wide padded feet. Physiological adaptations happen inside the body, like letting body temperature rise and surviving heavy water loss. Behavioural adaptations are what camels do, like eating salty plants and drinking huge amounts when they find water.
For the difference between the three kinds, see our guide to behavioural, structural and physiological adaptations.
| Adaptation | Kind | What it does | Key number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hump | Structural | Stores fat as an energy reserve | Up to 36 kg (80 lb) of fat (Oakland Zoo) |
| Closable nostrils | Structural | Keep sand out of the nose | Slit-shaped and able to shut (SDZWA, Oakland Zoo) |
| Double eyelashes | Structural | Keep sand out of the eyes | Two rows of extra-long lashes (SDZWA) |
| Wide padded feet | Structural | Spread out so the camel does not sink in sand | Two toes on a broad, callused pad (SDZWA, Oakland Zoo) |
| Split upper lip | Structural | Picks leaves off thorny plants | Each half moves on its own (SDZWA) |
| Rising body temperature | Physiological | Stores heat by day instead of sweating it away | Daily swing grew from 2.4 °C to 3.8 °C when short of water (Bouâouda et al. 2014) |
| Tolerance of water loss | Physiological | Keeps going while badly dried out | Lost 23% of body weight in 19 days without water (Bouâouda et al. 2014) |
| Huge drinking capacity | Physiological and behavioural | Refills the body fast after a long dry spell | Up to 145 litres (32 gallons) in one session (SDZWA) |
| Eating salty plants | Behavioural | Uses food other grazers avoid | Needs 6 to 8 times more salt than other animals (Oakland Zoo) |
Picture it: a labelled camel
Read the camel from head to feet. S = structural, P = physiological, B = behavioural.
Picture it: a full hump can hold about as much fat as a ten-year-old child weighs.
What are the structural adaptations of a camel?
A camel’s main structural adaptations are a fatty hump for stored energy, two rows of long eyelashes and closable nostrils against sand, broad padded two-toed feet that do not sink, and a split upper lip for picking leaves from thorny plants. Its large body also heats up slowly, which helps in the desert sun.
Do camels store water in their humps?
No. This is the most common camel myth. The hump holds fat, and the fat is an energy store, says San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. A dromedary’s hump can hold up to 36 kg (80 lb) of fat, according to Oakland Zoo.
When food runs short, the camel burns this fat for energy. A camel that has gone hungry for a long time has a smaller, floppy hump. Once it eats well again, the hump fills back out. Oakland Zoo notes that breaking down fat also releases some water, but the hump is a food store first.
Why keep all the fat in one place?
Packing fat into a hump, instead of spreading it under the skin, leaves the rest of the body with a thinner layer. That should make it easier for heat to leave through the skin. Think of it as wearing one backpack instead of a thick coat. This idea is widely repeated in zoo and textbook sources, but we did not find a study that measured it directly.
Why do camels have long eyelashes and closing nostrils?
To keep out sand. Camels have two rows of extra-long eyelashes that shield their eyes, and they can close their nostrils when sand blows, says San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Oakland Zoo describes the nostrils as slit-shaped. In a sandstorm, that is like having built-in goggles and a scarf.
How are camel feet and lips built for the desert?
Camels walk on two toes joined by a big, soft pad. The feet are broad and heavily callused, and they spread out when the camel steps down, says San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Spreading the weight stops the camel sinking into soft sand, a bit like snowshoes on snow. A split upper lip, with each half moving on its own, lets the camel pick leaves from between thorns.
What are the physiological adaptations of a camel?
A camel’s key physiological adaptations are letting its body temperature rise by several degrees during the day instead of sweating, surviving the loss of almost a quarter of its body weight in water, and refilling fast by drinking up to 145 litres (32 gallons) at once. The secret is not storing water but losing very little of it.
How long can a camel go without water?
A week or more, says San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Oakland Zoo gives four to seven days in severe heat. In cooler weather, or when camels eat juicy green plants, they can go much longer, because the plants carry water.
In a 2014 study in Physiological Reports, dromedaries kept in desert-like conditions went 19 days without water. By the end they had lost 23% of their starting body weight, and they were still alive. For most mammals, a loss that large would be deadly. When a camel finds water, it can drink up to 145 litres (32 gallons) in one session, about the same as a full bathtub.
How do camels cope with desert heat?
They let themselves get hot. Most mammals sweat or pant to keep their body at one steady temperature, and that costs water. A camel instead lets its body warm up during the day, stores the heat, and gets rid of it in the cool night air.
The Bouâouda study measured this. With plenty of water, the camels’ body temperature rose and fell by about 2.4 °C each day. After nearly three weeks without water, the daily swing grew to about 3.8 °C, from about 35.4 °C at night to 39.2 °C in the day. The drier the camel, the more it saves water this way.
Can camels live in the cold?
Bactrian camels can. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says they survive from −29 °C (−20 °F) to 49 °C (120 °F). Their thick winter coat falls out in clumps in spring.
What are the behavioural adaptations of a camel?
A camel’s main behavioural adaptations are eating tough, thorny and salty plants that most grazers avoid, drinking very large amounts quickly when water is found, and getting water from juicy plants when it can. Dromedaries need 6 to 8 times more salt than other animals, says Oakland Zoo, so salty desert plants suit them well.
About a third of a dromedary’s diet comes from salt-loving plants, according to Oakland Zoo. Being able to eat what others cannot means less competition for food in a place where food is scarce.
How do camel adaptations compare with other desert animals?
Camels are giants of the desert, so they rely on their size. Big bodies heat up slowly, which gives the camel time to store heat by day. Small desert animals take the opposite approach. The fennec fox hides in a burrow by day and loses heat through huge ears; see adaptations of a fennec fox. The tiny kangaroo rat stays in its burrow by day and gets its water from food; see kangaroo rat adaptations.
Animals in the cold use some of the same ideas in reverse. Polar bears keep a thick layer of fat all over to hold heat in; see polar bear adaptations.
Why do camels matter to desert ecosystems and people?
Camels can feed on tough desert plants where few other large grazers manage, which is why people have relied on them in deserts for so long. Nearly all dromedaries live with people, and the species has been gone from the wild for about 2,000 years, says Oakland Zoo. Wild two-humped camels still graze the Gobi.
Are camels endangered?
Farm camels are not, but wild camels are. The two-humped wild camel of the Gobi Desert is a separate species. In October 2025, the IUCN Red List moved the wild camel from Critically Endangered to Endangered, reports the Wild Camel Protection Foundation. The group says this reflects better counts, not a recovery. It estimates 1,040 to 1,840 wild camels, in China and Mongolia.
Myths about camel adaptations
Myth: Camels store water in their humps.
Fact: The hump stores fat, up to 36 kg (80 lb) in a dromedary (Oakland Zoo). Why people believe it: camels go a long time without drinking, and breaking down fat does release a little water.
Myth: Camels never get thirsty because they don’t lose water.
Fact: Camels do lose water. They can survive losing about a quarter of their body weight, which would kill most mammals (Bouâouda et al. 2014).
Myth: All camels live in hot deserts.
Fact: Bactrian camels cope with −29 °C (−20 °F) winters in Central Asia (San Diego Zoo).
Test yourself
1. What is inside a camel’s hump?
Fat, used as an energy store. Not water.
2. Is letting its body temperature rise by day a structural, physiological or behavioural adaptation?
Physiological, because it is about how the body works inside.
3. How much water can a camel drink in one session?
Up to 145 litres (32 gallons), says San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
Where to next?
➡️ Go wider: what behavioural, structural and physiological adaptations are⬆️ Go deeper: the desert rodent that gets its water from seeds🔀 Go sideways: how the fennec fox beats the same desert heat
Frequently asked questions
What are 3 adaptations of a camel?
One of each kind: a hump that stores fat for energy (structural), a body temperature that rises by day so it sweats less (physiological), and eating salty, thorny plants other grazers avoid (behavioural).
How many humps does a camel have?
Dromedaries, also called Arabian camels, have one hump. Bactrian camels and wild camels have two. An easy way to remember: a capital D, for Dromedary, lying on its side has one bump, and a capital B, for Bactrian, has two.
Is a camel’s hump hard or soft?
It is mostly fat, so it is firm when the camel is well fed and soft or floppy when the camel has used up its reserves. After a few weeks of good food, it fills out again.
How much does a camel weigh?
A grown Bactrian camel weighs about 450 to 500 kg (990 to 1,100 lb) and stands 1.6 to 1.8 m (5.2 to 5.9 ft) tall at the shoulder, according to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
Sources
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Camel.
- Oakland Zoo. Dromedary camel.
- Bouâouda, H. et al. (2014). Daily regulation of body temperature rhythm in the camel (Camelus dromedarius) exposed to experimental desert conditions. Physiological Reports, doi:10.14814/phy2.12151.
- Wild Camel Protection Foundation USA (2026). Wild Camel: status changed, threats remain.
Sources checked 12 October 2026.
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