Page:Mammalia (Beddard).djvu/306

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Camels may be the descendants of animals belonging to the inhabitants of those cities. A strayed herd of Camels has established itself in a feral state in Spain. Otherwise the genus does not occur in Europe. The Camels are also represented in the New World. The genus Lama (Auchenia of many authors) belongs to this family. These Camels differ from their allies in the Old World by their smaller size, by the absence of the characteristic hump, and by the dropping of one premolar, the dental formula

Fig. 148.—Bactrian Camel. Camelus bactrianus. × 130.

being otherwise similar. A variety of names, Lama, Alpaca, Huanaco, Vicuña, have been applied to these animals; but it appears that the names are in excess of the number of the species. Mr. Thomas, who has lately inquired into the matter, will only allow two, the Huanaco, Lama huanacos, of which there are two domestic races, the Llama and the Alpaca, and the Vicuña, Lama vicugna. They are both South American in range. Not only is there a herd of escaped Camels in Spain, but the Spaniards attempted to introduce and acclimatise the useful Lama. The first Lama ever seen in Europe was brought in the year 1558 to