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The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus'') is a large, even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. Of the two species of camels, it is by far the rarer. The Bactrian camel has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped dromedary camel.〔The mnemonic that allows one to remember the correct English word for each is: "Bactrian" begins with "B", and "Dromedary" begins with "D" – and "B" on its side has two humps, whilst "D" on its side has only one hump.〕 Its population of two million exists mainly in the domesticated form.〔("Bactrian Camel." ) ''EdgeofExistence.org.'' EDGE, 2010.〕 Some authorities, notably the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), use the binomial name ''Camelus ferus'' for the wild Bactrian camel and reserve ''Camelus bactrianus'' for the domesticated Bactrian camel.〔 Their name comes from the ancient historical region of Bactria. The domesticated Bactrian camel has served as a pack animal in inner Asia since ancient times. With its tolerance for cold, drought, and high altitudes, it enabled the travel of caravans on the Silk Road. The wild form has dwindled to a population estimated at 800 in October 2002 and has been classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.〔 Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered〕 Its range in the wild is restricted to remote regions of the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts of Mongolia and China. A small number of wild Bactrian camels still roam the Mangystau Province of southwest Kazakhstan and the Kashmir Valley in India. Feral herds of Bactrian camels are found in Australia. ==Subspecies== The wild Bactrian camel (''Camulus ferus'') was first described by Nikolay Przhevalsky in the late 19th century. Zoological opinion nowadays tends to favour the idea that ''C. bactrianus'' and ''C. dromedarius'' are descendants of two different subspecies of ''C. ferus'' (Peters and von den Driesch 1997: 652) and there is no evidence to suggest that the original range of ''C. ferus'' included those parts of Central Asia and Iran where some of the earliest Bactrian remains have been found.〔Potts (2004), p. 145.〕In particular, a population of wild Bactrian camel has been discovered to live within a part of the Gashun Gobi region of the Gobi Desert. This population is distinct from domesticated herds both in genetic makeup and in behavior. As many as three regions in the genetic makeup are distinctly different from domesticated camels, with up to a 3% difference in the base genetic code. However, with so few wild camels, what the natural genetic diversity within a population would have been is not clear. Another difference is the ability of these wild camels to drink saltwater slush, although whether the camel can extract useful water from it is not yet certain. Domesticated camels are unable to drink such salty water.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Wild Camels )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bactrian camel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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