Camelops hesternus, Leidy, 1854

Davis, Matt, Nye, Benjamin D., Sinatra, Gale M., Swartout, William, Sjӧberg, Molly, Porter, Molly, Nelson, David, Kennedy, Alana A. U., Herrick, Imogen, Weeks, Danaan DeNeve & Lindsey, Emily, 2022, Designing scientifically-grounded paleoart for augmented reality at La Brea Tar Pits, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 9) 25 (1), pp. 1-37 : 14-15

Camelops hesternus

( Figure 8 )

Appearance. Genetic data (Heintzman et al., 2015) shows that Camelops is sister to Camelus (extant Bactrian and dromedary camels). Given this close relationship and the similarity, both in size and general appearance, between the skeletons of western camels and dromedaries ( Camelus dromedarius ), our reconstruction ( Figure 8 ) closely resembles the latter species. Webb (1965) noted several differences that separated western camels from dromedaries: they had proportionally longer and deeper heads with longer muzzles that flexed downward more steeply, more muscular upper lips, proportionally more elongate limbs, and feet that may have been more llama-like. Given the limitations of our low poly aesthetic, the more gracile nature of the western camel is likely the only difference readily apparent in our model. Confirmation of a hump awaits more soft tissue preservation but neural spine anatomy led Webb (1965) to believe that the western camel likely had a single hump spanning most of the rib cage, though potentially placed farther forward than the hump in dromedaries. In several older pieces of paleoart at the Tar Pits, western camels are illustrated with what can best be described as a “humplett”, an ambiguous mass of intermediate size somewhere between large, true hump and dorsal clump of long, dark hair. We followed this purposefully ambiguous reconstruction although our “humplett” is likely too far back on the body as it follows placement in dromedaries.

Behavior. We used footage of modern dromedary and Bactrian camels for locomotion references, and assumed that western camels also exhibited

PALAEO- ELECTRONICA.ORG the unusual stride pattern where both limbs on one side move forward at a time.

Dire Wolf

Figures

FIGURE 8. Low poly reconstruction of the extinct western camel (Camelops hesternus). To view this model in 3D, please see the online version of this article.