The western camel was hunted by the ancestors of the Native Americans.

Meaning of scientific name
Camelops hesternus = "yesterday's camel"

Statistics
Height at shoulder: 215cm. Weight: 590kg.

Physical description
The western camel was similar in build to the living Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), but a little taller at the shoulder. It is not known if the western camel had humps or not.

Distribution
Western camels lived in North America, and were most abundant in the west of the United States, the south west of Canada and in central Mexico.

Habitat
The species inhabited steppe and temperate grasslands.

Diet
It was likely an opportunist, taking whatever plants that were available at the time. Its teeth were well adapted to grazing, but the shape of its snout shows that it could eat leaves, herbs and fruits too.

Behaviour
Unknown.

Reproduction
Unknown.

Conservation status
The western camel became extinct at the end of the Ice Age, about 10 to 11,000 years ago.

Notes
Camels evolved in the Americas about 50 million years ago. Bones of the western camel have been found in association with stone tools at 18 palaeo-indian archaeological sites across the US and Canada. At two of the sites the camel bones have cut marks on them that prove the camel was butchered for its meat by prehistoric hunters.

Closest relative
The llama is the western camel's closest living relative.