Lama glama, Llama

myminifactory

The Llama is a domesticated descendant of the Guanaco, specifically Lama guanaco. According to Nowak (1991) evidence suggests that domestication began between 6000 and 7000 years ago with archaeological findings in the Andean mountains at elevations ranging from 4000m to 4900m as reported by Wheeler (1995). Today the species can be found throughout Peru into northwest Argentina. The llama belongs to the Camelidae family which includes South American camelids such as Lama and Vicugna, as well as Old World camelids like Camelus, there are three genera in total within this group, with Lama and Vicugna found in South America and Camelus in the Old World (Wheeler, 1995).