the.com/camelid
The family tree where camels, llamas, and alpacas all refused to fully commit to one hump count.
means A member of the biological family Camelidae — camels, llamas, alpacas, guanacos, and vicuñas, all even-toed, long-necked mammals adapted for tough terrain.
from Built from Latin 'camelus' (camel), itself borrowed from Greek 'kamēlos', which in turn likely came from a Semitic source — compare Hebrew 'gamal' and Arabic 'jamal'. Tack on the scientific-sounding suffix '-id' (from Latin '-ida/-idae', used to name biological families) and you get the tidy taxonomic label that quietly includes the camel's South American cousins, who've never seen a desert in their lives.
- blood cells
- Oval-shaped, not round, so they never rupture
- spit weapon
- Actually regurgitated stomach contents, not saliva
- antibodies
- Tiny single-chain ones scientists now mine for drugs
- origin
- Evolved in North America, then left entirely