Why camels have nucleated rbc

The dromedary camel is incredibly well-adapted to hot, arid climates. This ability is, in part, due to uniquely oval red blood cells which carry oxygen. The long axis of these oval cells is oriented with the flow of blood, enabling the cells to cross over the smallest of blood vessels, even when blood thickens during times of dehydration.

This makes it possible for the camel to drink the necessarily large amount of water to recover from dehydration. The small size and shape result in a lower packed cell volume PCV. Camelid erythrocytes are oriented with the long axis in the direction of the blood flow; this makes it possible to traverse small capillaries, resulting in fewer problems of sludging when the viscosity of the blood increases during dehydration.

This amount of water would cause severe osmotic problems in humans or other animals. In the camel, water is absorbed from the stomach and intestines slowly, allowing equilibrium to be established. Maggots scrape dead tissue with mouth hooks then spew a stew of enzymes to liquefy, swallow, and digest it. Vein systems in leaves allow for optimal flow and resilience to damage due to a dense network of nested, interconnected loops.

This makes it possible for the camel to drink the necessarily large amount of water to recover from dehydration.

All rights reserved. Class-8 » Biology. Share with your friends. Kartik Melwani answered this. Biology Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for biology researchers, academics, and students. It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Most mammals have enucleated RBCs as an adaptation to facilitate the transport of oxygen. My text says that camels and llamas are exceptions to these.

I was wondering why they are exceptions, and the Google search results are confusing. Some sites say that camels have nucleated RBCs to facilitate cell division. Some others state that camels, like all other mammals possess enucleated but different shaped RBCs.

So, which is correct? Camel RBCs are anucleate [ 1 , 2 ]. The dark structure seen in microscopic images is not nuclei but a network of microtubules called the marginal bands. Marginal bands cause these RBCs to adopt an ellipsoid shape. The unique shape of these RBCs possibly allows them to survive osmotic stress and is probably advantageous to a camel under extreme dehydration.

References : [1] Cohen, William D. Barclay Terwilliger.