🌳 Ep. 215: Camels – 3 Species & 2 Facts Memory Mnemonic
👋 Intro
Hello and welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Memory", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.
I’m Jans, your Mnemonic Man, and today's episode will be on the ship of the desert, and one of the most resilient animals on the planet, the camel.
Known for its iconic hump, or two, the camel is known for its endurance, ability to carry large loads, and its capability to thrive in some of the harshest environments on earth.
The camel’s hump stores fat, which can then be converted into energy, allowing them to survive long periods without eating. It also helps regulate their body temperature by concentrating fat on the back, which reduces heat insulation throughout the rest of the body.
Their body reads like an encyclopedia in terms of adaptations to deal with the harsh desert environment. Some of these adaptations include: the ability to close their nostrils, long eyelashes to shield their eyes, thick lips to eat thorny plants, wide, padded feet to prevent sinking, and their ability to conserve water in a number of ways.
There are two main species: the one-humped dromedary camel and the two-humped Bactrian camel. Dromedaries are more common and are widely used in the Middle East and Africa, while Bactrian camels live in the colder, rocky deserts of Central Asia and can withstand extreme temperature fluctuations.
While camels have been an essential part of human societies throughout history, they are remarkably poorly represented in the cartoon character stakes. Joe Camel, who is also known as Old Joe, is probably the most famous as the mascot for Camel cigarettes, while the magical, flying camel from Shazzan, called Kaboobie, would most likely follow.
Today’s mnemonic will be on the three species of camels and two facts.
So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
📖 Wikipedia Summary
A camel (from Latin: camelus and Ancient Greek: κάμηλος (kamēlos) from Ancient Semitic: gāmāl[7][8]) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back.
Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide food (camel milk and meat) and textiles (fiber and felt from camel hair). Camels are working animals especially suited to their desert habitat and are a vital means of transport for passengers and cargo. There are three surviving species of camel.
The one-humped dromedary makes up 94% of the world's camel population, and the two-humped Bactrian camel makes up 6%. The wild Bactrian camel is a distinct species that is not ancestral to the domestic Bactrian camel, and is now critically endangered, with fewer than 1,000 individuals.
The word camel is also used informally in a wider sense, where the more correct term is "camelid", to include all seven species of the family Camelidae (carmeluh-dee): the true camels (the above three species), along with the "New World" camelids: the llama, the alpaca, the guanaco, and the vicuña, which belong to the separate tribe Lamini.[9]
Camelids originated in North America during the Eocene, with the ancestor of modern camels, Paracamelus, migrating across the Bering land bridge into Asia during the late Miocene, around 6 million years ago.
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel]
🧠 Memory Mnemonic
Camels – 3 Species & 2 Facts Memory Mnemonic – Dromedary & Bactrian COW
(Picture a hybrid species of camel where the Dromedary and Bactrian camels were crossed, and they called it a cow.)
1. Dromedary Camel
2. Bactrian Camel
3. Camel family is Camelidae
4. Originated from North America
5. Wild Bactrian Camel
🔎 Five Fun Facts
1. Camels are well equipped to handle the harsh desert conditions. They can close their nostrils during sandstorms, they have three sets of eyelids and two rows of eyelashes to keep out blowing sand, and their ears also have hair inside, which acts as a natural filter.
2. Camels also have another secret weapon to survive the heat. Camels can let their body temperature rise to 42°C. This minimises their need to sweat and thus minimises water loss. They are also very efficient at concentrating their urine through their kidneys, which reduces the amount of water lost through urination.
3. Camels have a very unique way of walking, which is called a pace. They move both the front and back legs on one side of their body together. This creates a swaying motion and is part of what earned them the nickname “ships of the desert.” Their wide padded feet avoid sinking in the sand, and their long legs keep their bodies further from the sand, which can reach temperatures of up to 70°C.
4. A camel’s hump is not just there for its looks. Their humps let them store up to 80 pounds of fat, which they can live off for weeks and even months! When a camel does finally find water, they can drink up to a massive 40 gallons or about 150 litres in one go! This water is stored in their bloodstream and tissues.
5. Camels are not only durable but also strong. They can carry up to 900 pounds for 25 miles a day. They are also surprisingly fast, travelling at speeds up to 40 miles per hour, which is around 10 miles per hour less than a racehorse. Their endurance has made them vital companions for desert-living cultures.
_in_Ethiopia.jpg){kind=link}
🎓 Three-Question Quiz
Q.1. How many humps does a dromedary camel have?
Q.2. What do camels store in their humps?
Q.3. How long can camels live without drinking water in the desert? Options are around a week, around a month, or around 2 months.
Bonus Q. A group of camels travelling together is called a what?
Bonus Q. Which country is the Boulia Camel Race in? One of the most famous camel races in the world.
Bonus Q. What do you call a camel with no humps?
🧠 Memory Mnemonic Recap
Camels – 3 Species & 2 Facts Memory Mnemonic – Dromedary & Bactrian COW
(Picture a hybrid species of camel where the Dromedary and Bactrian camels were crossed, and they called it a cow.)
1. Dromedary Camel
2. Bactrian Camel
3. Camel family is Camelidae
4. Originated from North America
5. Wild Bactrian Camel
🎓 Three-Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. How many humps does a dromedary camel have?
A. One
Q.2. What do camels store in their humps?
A. Fat
Q.3. How long can camels live without drinking water in the desert? Options are around a week, around a month, or around 2 months.
A. About a week, depending on conditions.
Bonus Q. A group of camels travelling together is called a what?
A. Caravan
Bonus Q. Which country is the Boulia Camel Race in? One of the most famous camel races in the world.
A. Australia
Bonus Q. What do you call a camel with no humps?
A. Humphrey!
🔤 Word of the Week
ingeminate
[in-jem-uh-neyt]
verb (used with object)
ingeminated, ingeminating
Example
The guide had to ingeminate the fact that camels store fat, not water, in their humps.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
💡 Memory Tip
For our memory tip today, we will talk about the auditory mnemonic of Jingles. A Jingle mnemonic uses short, catchy tunes or rhythmic phrases to help remember information more easily.
The musical pattern makes the content memorable because melody and rhythm stick in the mind longer. I’m sure we have all heard of the concept of an earworm. They work especially well for lists and key facts. The jingle can be sung, chanted, or spoken with rhythm. The repetition of a jingle reinforces the memory and can make recall quick and automatic.
Our example for a jingle could be “Thirty days has September, April, June, and November.” See you next week.
👉 Free Memory Mnemonics at:
https://www.themnemonictreepodcast.com
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-mnemonic-tree-podcast/id1591795132
🎧 Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/3T0LdIJ9PBQMXM3cdKd42Q?si=fqmaN2TNS8qqc7jOEVa-Cw
🔗 References
https://chatgpt.com/c/6911aea8-f89c-8324-a1b1-6a6df803f11d
https://spana.org/au/blog/13-fun-facts-about-camels/
https://www.twinkl.com.au/blog/16-interesting-camel-facts-for-kids