Hey, everybody.
I'm Ben, and today's question
is do the humps on camels
actually hold water?
The short answer is no.
That's it.
That's the end of the video.
No, I'm kidding, though.
I'll tell you what a
camel's hump does hold.
It holds a giant mound of fat.
In a healthy, well
fed camel, this hump
can weigh is much as 80 pounds.
Human beings and
most animals store
their fat mixed with their
muscle tissue or in a layer
right beneath the skin.
Camels are the only animals
with a hump like this.
This hump allows the camera
to survive an extremely long
time-- up to two
weeks-- without food.
Because camels typically
live in the desert, where
food can be scarce for very long
stretches, this is important.
But that has nothing
to do with water.
So how does a camel survive
without water in the desert?
We know that a camel needs about
five gallons of water a day
in the summer.
However, a camel can lose
up to 25 gallons of water
from its body tissue
with no ill effects.
That means that a camel's
body tissue is already
storing all the
water a camel needs.
Camels are also good
at conserving water.
One thing that a camel
can do to conserve water
is they handle large
body temperature swings.
So a camel might start its
day with its body temperature
is 90 degrees Fahrenheit,
which I really
should phrase in Celsius.
And it could allow
its temperature
to rise as high as 105
degrees Fahrenheit.
Only at the upper
end of this range
does it need to sweat
to prevent overheating.
When we compare this
temperature range to the range
that a human body can handle,
where only a two degree rise
could indicate illness, you
can clearly see the advantage.
And that is the
truth behind, or I
guess under, the camel's
hump, the camel's skin.
You get it.
Anyway, hope you
enjoyed this video.
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All right.
These videos are great, too.
Check those out.
[TRYING TO WHISTLE]
I can't whistle.
