Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 101
Horses and their riders gallop towards the fi nish line of a ten-kilometer race
across the vast gravel desert in western Mongolia.
domestic two-humped camels from throughout their range are all closely
related to each other. They are surprisingly distinct from their wild relatives.
Judging by the genetic dif erences between them, the domestic and wild
camels are at the very least dif erent subspecies.
24
Like horses, domestic camels must have originated from a species or
subspecies that has now gone extinct in the wild. The only wild Bactrian
camels that still survive are that parallel group of wild two-humped camels
that (like Przewalsky's horse) were not domesticated. The remaining small
herds of these wild camels tend to fl ee (with good reason) at the fi rst sign of
approaching humans.
