A camel's hump stores fat, not water, to serve as a vital energy reserve.

While many believe camels store liquid water in their humps, these structures are actually composed of fibrous tissue and stored fat. A dromedary camel can store up to 80 pounds of fat in its hump, which it utilizes as a primary energy source during long periods without food. This localized fat storage is an evolutionary adaptation that helps with thermoregulation. If the fat were distributed throughout the body like a typical mammal, it would act as insulation and cause the camel to overheat in desert temperatures reaching 120°F.The metabolic process of converting this fat into energy is known as fat oxidation. For every gram of fat processed, the camel's body produces more than one gram of water as a byproduct. This 'metabolic water' is crucial for survival in arid environments like the Sahara or Gobi deserts. Research by physiologist Knut Schmidt-Nielsen in the 1950s debunked the water-storage myth and detailed how camels manage their internal temperature.When a camel goes a long time without eating, its hump will physically shrink, become flaccid, or even lean to one side. Once the animal finds food and water, the hump can return to its firm, upright state in just a few weeks. This specialized anatomy allows camels to travel up to 100 miles in the desert without drinking a single drop of water. Their ability to lose up to 30% of their body weight in water without dying is a feat that would be fatal to most other mammals.