Camels originally evolved in North America and lived in snowy forests for millions of years.

The evolutionary history of camels began in the Eocene epoch, roughly 45 million years ago, with a rabbit-sized creature named Protylopus. Over millions of years, these early camelids diversified across the North American continent. It was not until the Pliocene epoch, about 3.5 million years ago, that the 'High Arctic camel' lived in the boreal forests of Ellesmere Island, Canada.Research led by Dr. Natalia Rybczynski of the Canadian Museum of Nature used collagen fingerprinting to identify these fossils. The study revealed that the physical traits we associate with desert survival were actually designed for the cold. The iconic hump served as a fat reservoir to survive long, food-scarce winters, while their wide, flat feet acted like snowshoes to prevent sinking into deep drifts.Their large eyes and long eyelashes likely protected them from the blinding glare of sun on snow and wind-blown ice particles. Around 3 to 5 million years ago, these ancestors crossed the Bering Land Bridge, a strip of land connecting Alaska to Siberia. While they eventually went extinct in North America about 10,000 years ago, their descendants thrived and adapted to the arid environments of the Middle East and Central Asia.