Researchers Find Fossil of Ottoman War Camel
Posted on May 28, 2015
Scientists have unearthed the complete fossil of an Ottoman war camel. The fossil was discovered in a cellar in Tulln, Lower Austria. The fossil has been dated to the time of the Second Ottoman War in the 17th century.
The fossil was discovered by Alfred Galik from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and his colleagues. The performed morphological and DNA analysis on the camel skeleton and determined the camel was a male hybrid. It had a dromedary for a mother and a Bactrian camel for a father.
Galik says in a statement, "Such crossbreeding was not unusual at the time. Hybrids were easier to handle, more enduring, and larger than their parents. These animals were especially suited for military use."
The BBC News reports that the camel remains were originally thought to be a horse or a cow. The researchers say the camel fossil shows signs of being ridden and well cared-for.
A research paper on the war camel can be found here in the journal, PLoS One. In the paper, the researchers speculate that the camel may have been taken in by the residents of the town.
The researchers write, "It is impossible to reconstruct how the camel did arrive within the town walls of Tulln. Its appearance might be linked to an exchange of local people with the troops or the Ottoman army simply left it behind. Apparently, the citizens took it inside the town, where they probably kept and displayed it as an 'exotic animal.'"
