There is so much diversity among mammals. Various factors relating to their environment, climate and availability of resources have resulted in the development of distinct species despite the apparent similarity in the appearance of these animals. Among camels, Bactrian camels and Dromedary camels are such animals.
Dromedary camels have only one hump on their back. They are very common in Africa and the Middle East. Bactrian camels, on the other hand, are native to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, and have two humps.
Bactrian camels differ from dromedary camels in other ways too. A bactrian camel grows a thick coat of hair in each winter. This coat of hair is temporary and falls off every spring. This is to deal with the extreme variation of temperature in the Gobi desert, where summer heat often goes up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and winter months can see significant amounts of snow. The dromedary camel, on the other hand, has uniform length of hair all year round.
Yet another difference is that Dromedary camels are not found in the wild while a few wild Bactrian camels still exist in the Gobi Desert. Finally, Bactrian camels are much more mild-mannered than the hot-tempered dromedary camels.
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