In the desert, very few creatures can survive. But camels can walk in the desert for many days without eating or drinking without any problem. Why is this?


Camels are extremely resistant to hunger and thirst, and can store energy in the form of fat in their hump and belly fat, enabling them to survive prolonged periods of lack of water and food. The reason why camels are thirst-resistant is mainly related to their physiological functions and tissue structure. The camel's first stomach is large and can store a lot of water. In summer, a camel can drink up to 50-80L of water at a time, which is enough for the metabolism of the body for three days.


Camels also have an amazing breathing system. Not only can their nostrils open and close freely, but there are also many curved and tiny airways in the nostrils. When water vapor passes through these airways, it will form a dry film, which will condense the water vapor here, and finally pass through The respiratory tract transports water vapor back into the lungs.


In addition, its nose can absorb the moisture in the air and send the moisture in the air into the body through breathing. In order to save water, camels hardly sweat, and they have very few sweat glands, which causes their body to lose water very slowly. And even if camels are dehydrated to 25% of their body weight, they can still live normally, while humans only need to be dehydrated by 12% to go into shock or even die.


The surface temperature in the desert can sometimes reach over 70 degrees Celsius, but camels are not afraid of being scalded. Camels have thick pads on the soles of their feet. This thick layer of meat pad not only has the function of preventing scalding, but also ensures that it can walk normally in the sand. The camel's eyelashes are very long, and there are valves on the nostrils, which can well shield it from wind and sand. In addition, it also has a lot of slender hairs in its ears and eyes to block the invasion of wind and sand.


Under the arid and high temperature conditions in the desert, camels have the ability to control their own temperature within a reasonable range. Camels sweat very little, storing heat during the day and reducing metabolic rate by conduction at night. The camel's body temperature is 34°C at night and as high as 41°C during the day, and only when the body temperature is higher than this does the camel start to sweat. Such a camel can save about 5L of water per day and can tolerate a 25% weight loss from sweating. The strong thermoregulatory ability makes the camel more conducive to survive in the environment of high temperature and lack of water.


The camel, known as the "boat of the desert", is the natural choice of nature. In such a cruel geographical environment, it has formed its unique physiological function and organizational structure to resist the harsh desert climate. They walk in the desert and completely conquer this land of death under their feet.