To survive in the desert, camels store water in their humps, right?

Although camels do have tricks to make the most of water they find, their humps aren't one of them.

"They deal with dry seasons when food and water is scarce," said Rick Schwartz, an animal care supervisor and national spokesperson at the San Diego Zoo?

Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus) live in parts of western China and Central Asia, and they have two humps?

But as far as Schwartz is aware, the extra hump does not allow Bactrian camels to go longer without food?

Because camel humps store food, the dromedaries need other ways to cope with water scarcity.

For example, camels can can drink up to 30 gallons (114 liters) of water in one sitting, they excrete dry feces to retain water, and their kidneys efficiently remove toxins from water in the body so they can retain as much as possible, Schwartz explained.

Camels have several other ways to make each drink of water go far, such as by catching moisture from every breath they exhale through their nose. .

This incredible ability to make do with less water is "probably why the myth came about that if they go so long without water, they must be storing water in the humps," Schwartz said.