Why do camels have humps?
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If you could give a desert animal one helpful body feature, what would you choose?
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Transcript
Why do camels have those big humps on their backs? Let's wonder together!
Camels live in hot, dry places where plants can be hard to find. Their humps hold fat from food they ate before.
When there is little food, a camel's body can use the fat in its hump. This gives the camel energy to keep walking.
The hump gets smaller when its stored fat is used. After the camel eats plenty again, the hump grows rounder.
So that's why camels have humps! Their humps store fat to help when food is hard to find.
For grown-ups: the science
A camel's hump stores fat that helps it when food is hard to find.
Camel humps store fat, not water. When food is scarce, camels can use this fat for energy, and breaking down fat also makes some water inside the body. Camels have other desert adaptations too, including conserving water and tolerating changes in body temperature.