Although they were often
compared by early writers to sheep and spoken of as such, their
affinity to the camel was very soon perceived. They were included
in the genus Camelus in the Systema Naturae of Linnaeus. They
were, however, separated by Cuvier in 1800 under the name of Lama
along with the alpaca and the guanaco. Vicuñas are in genus
Vicugna. The animals of the genus Lama are, with the two species
of true camels, the sole existing representatives of a very distinct
section of the "Artiodactyla" or even-toed ungulates,
called Tylopoda, or "bump-footed," from the peculiar
bumps on the soles of their feet, on which they tread. This section
thus consists of a single family, the Camelidae, the other sections
of the same great division being the Suina or pigs, the Tragulina
or chevrotains, and the Pecora or true ruminants, to each of which
the Tylopoda have more or less affinity, standing in some respects
in a central position between them, borrowing as it were some
characters from each, but in others showing great special modifications
not found in any of the other sections.
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The discoveries
of a vast and previously unsuspected extinct fauna of the American
continent of the Tertiary period, as interpreted by the palaeontologists
Leidy, Cope, and Marsh, has thrown a flood of light upon the early
history of this family, and upon its relations to other mammals.
It is now known that llamas at one time were not confined to the
part of the continent south of the Isthmus of Panama, as at the
present day, for their remains have been abundantly found in the
Pleistocene deposits of the region of the Rocky Mountains, and
in Central America, some attaining a much larger size than those
now existing.
Above Images Courtesy of The USDA
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