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La Brea Geology
La Brea Flora and
Fauna
Biodiversity
Plants and Their
Habitats
Invertebrates
Lower Vertebrates
Birds of Rancho La
Brea
Columbian Mammoth
American Mastodon
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Ancient Bison
Dwarf Pronghorn
Extinct Camel
Rare Mammalian
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Human Exploration
and Excavations
Extinct Camel
Camelops hesternus

Camel

 

Camel's limbThe western camel had a very similar build to the living bactrian (two-humped) camel, but was slightly taller (standing seven feet at the shoulder) and may have lacked humps. Although its teeth suggest a diet of grasses, plant remains extracted from its teeth show very little grass and would suggest that the camel was an opportunistic herbivore (eating any plants that were around) like its modern day relatives. The western camel was more closely related to the llama than to living camels.

The basic structure of a camel's foot		 Camel Skeleton
Foot Note!
Camels originated in North America about 45 million years ago. At about 2-3 million years ago, they migrated to Eurasia and Africa, moving in the opposite direction from the many other animals that migrated to North America.

 

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