Wild Bactrian camel
The Wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus) is a critically endangered species of camel living in East Turkestan and southwestern Mongolia. It is closely related to the Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus). Both are large, double-humped even-toed ungulates native to the steppes of central Asia.[1] Until recently, wild Bactrian camels were thought to have descended from domesticated Bactrian camels that became feral after being released into the wild. However, genetic studies have established it as a separate species that diverged from the Bactrian camel about 1.1 million years ago.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Distribution
Currently, only about 1,000 wild Bactrian camels are living in the wild.[9] Most live on the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve near the border with China proper to the East.
Wild Bactrian Camel Media
Group in Ömnögovi Province, Mongolia
Wild Bactrian camels in the Gobi desert
Wild Bactrian camel on an Uzbek stamp
References
- ↑ Animal Info - Endangered Animals: Camelus bactrianus (Camelus bactrianus ferus)Animal Information Organization. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
- ↑ Silbermayr, K.. High mitochondrial differentiation levels between wild and domestic Bactrian camels: a basis for rapid detection of maternal hybridization (in en). Animal Genetics 41 (3) (2010-06-01). p. 315–318. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2052.2009.01993.x.
- ↑ Ji, R.. Monophyletic origin of domestic bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) and its evolutionary relationship with the extant wild camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus) (in en). Animal Genetics 40 (4) (2009-08-01). p. 377–382. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2052.2008.01848.x.
- ↑ Burger, Pamela Anna. The history of Old World camelids in the light of molecular genetics (in en). Tropical Animal Health and Production 48 (5) (2016-04-05). p. 905–913. doi:10.1007/s11250-016-1032-7.
- ↑ Mohandesan, Elmira. Mitogenome Sequencing in the Genus Camelus Reveals Evidence for Purifying Selection and Long-term Divergence between Wild and Domestic Bactrian Camels (in En). Scientific Reports 7 (1) (2017-08-30). p. 9970. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-08995-8.
- ↑ Burger, P., Silbermayr, K., Charruau, P., Lipp, L., Dulamtseren, E., Yadmasuren, A. and Walzer, C. (in press). Genetic status of wild camels (Camelus ferus) in Mongolia.
- ↑ See, for example: Hare (2008) and Potts (2004)
- ↑ Cui, Peng. A complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the wild two-humped camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus): an evolutionary history of camelidae. BMC Genomics 8 (2007-01-01). p. 241. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-8-241.
- ↑ home pageWild Camel Protection Foundation. Retrieved 2020-06-24. reported 1,400 in 2012, now says 1,000