Alpaca vs Dromedary Camel

Vicugna pacos compared with Camelus dromedarius

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Alpaca	Dromedary Camel
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Mammalia (Mammals)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order same	Artiodactyla (Even-toed Ungulates)	Artiodactyla (Even-toed Ungulates)
Family same	Camelidae (Camels)	Camelidae (Camels)
Genus	Vicugna	Camelus (Camels)
Species	Vicugna pacos	Camelus dromedarius

Evolutionary Relationship

Alpaca and Dromedary Camel share a common ancestor at the Family level: Camelidae. (Camels)

Conservation Status

Alpaca

NE — Not Evaluated

Dromedary Camel

NE — Not Evaluated

Population: ~15.0M

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Alpaca	Dromedary Camel
Diet	—	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	—	40 years
Average Length	—	2.3 m
Average Weight	—	600.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Alpaca

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Ecuador, Nepal, and Norway.

Dromedary Camel

Habitat

Inhabits deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Australia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Sudan.

Alpaca

The Alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is a species in the genus Vicugna. Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Dromedary Camel

The dromedary is the single-humped camel, domesticated over 4,000 years ago. The hump stores fat, not water.