Why camels have humps.

Why do camels have humps?

The answer to this burning camel question is that the hump store fat. There is very little food in the desert and when a camels is in need of food and there is none to find it relies on the hump to provide energy. A healthy camel’s hump weighs on average 35KG!
Unlike most animals who store the fat around there body for insulation camels have adapted to having the vast majority of their fat stored in a hump above their backbone. This keeps them cool during the sweltering heat of the day and provides energy when food is in short supply. If a camel has gone to long without any food the hump which is generally supported with strong tissue begins to shrink and can even fall down and hang on to the camel’s side. However the hump returns to normal after a few weeks of food and rest.

Why do some camels have two humps and some only one?

The reason the number of humps varies from camel to camel is that there are two main type of camels. One is called the Arabian camel and has one hump and the other species is called the Bactrian camel which has two humps.




http://www.qatarliving.com/forum/qatar-living-lounge/posts/3-humped-camel-spotted-dukhan

For me this answer posed another question and that was do any camels have three humps? 

And the answer to this that three hump camels are about as rare as three leaved clovers, however cross breeding between the two above species, one with one hump and the other with two, generally produces a camel which is stronger and larger camel with one big longer hump. But some sightings have been reported of three humped camels (see picture) as a rare result of this inter species breeding.