| Camelids | ||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
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| Species | ||||||||||
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Lama glama Lama pacos Lama guanicoe Vicugna vicugna Camelus dromedarius Camelus bactrianus |
The four llamas and two camels are camelids: members of the biological family Camelidae, the only family in the suborder Tylopoda.
Camelids are even-toed ungulates: they are classified in the same order as the pigs, peccaries and hippos (suborder Suidae) and the extraordinarily successful and diverse suborder Ruminantia (which includes cattle, goats, antelope and many others). Like many of the Ruminantia, camelids tend to be large and strictly herbivorous. They differ most notably by having a three-chambered rather than a four-chambered digestive tract, and in having incisors in the upper jaw.