Ancient stunted camel found in Panama

Aldo Rincon, paleontology student at the University of Florida at Gainesville, found the fossils of ancient mini camel. The fossil was discovered in excavations at the site paleontology Las Casacadas, Panama, between the years 2008-2009.

Identification showed that the fossils were found is owned by two species of camels, which Aguascalietia panamaensis and Aguascalientia minuta. Both camels are living in Central America 20 million years ago, had a snout like a crocodile and a short and sharp teeth.


Based on the analysis conducted, Rincon said that the camel was eating fruit and mini-sized leaves. A minuta has only about 60 cm high, almost equivalent to the deer, while the A panamaensis height 80 cm.

"They are cute animals. I did not expect this finding in Panama," said Carlos Jaramillo of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama that also involved the research, told National Geographic, Tuesday (03/06/2012).

In modern times, the camel is abundant in Africa and the Middle East. In fact, 35-40 million years ago, a camel is abundant in America. This discovery gives clues about the evolution of the camel, which in the past split into two, one in Asia and one in South America.