The llama (Lama glama) is a South American camelid, widely used as a pack animal by the Incas

The height of a full-grown, full-size llama is between 5.5 feet (1.6 meters) to 6 feet (1.8 m) tall at the top of the head. They can weigh between approximately 280 pounds (127 kilograms) and 450 pounds (204 kilograms). At birth, a baby llama (called a cria) can weigh between 20 pounds (9 kilograms) to 30 pounds (14 kilograms). Llamas are very social animals and like to live with other llamas as a herd. Overall, the fiber produced by a llama is very soft and is naturally lanolin free. Llamas are intelligent and can learn simple tasks after a few repetitions. When using a pack, llamas can carry about 25%–30% of their body weight for several miles.

Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago) camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20^th century, there are now over 100,000 llamas and 6,500–7,000 alpacas in the US and Canada.

Classification

Although early writers compared llamas to sheep, their similarity to the camel was very soon recognized. They were included in the genus Camelus in the Systema Naturae of Linnaeus. They were, however, separated by Cuvier in 1800 under the name of llama along with the alpaca and the guanaco. Vicuñas are in genus Vicugna. The animals of the genus Lama are, with the two species of true camels, the sole existing representatives of a very distinct section of the Artiodactyla or even-toed ungulates, called Tylopoda, or "bump-footed," from the peculiar bumps on the soles of their feet, on which they tread. The Tylopoda consists of a single family, the Camelidae, and shares the Artiodactyla taxon with the Suina (pigs), the Tragulina (chevrotains), and the Pecora (ruminants). The Tylopoda have more or less affinity to each of the sister taxa, standing in some respects in a middle position between them, sharing some characteristics from each, but in others showing great special modifications not found in any of the other taxa.

The discoveries of a vast and previously unsuspected extinct fauna of the American continent of the Tertiary period, as interpreted by the palaeontologists Leidy, Cope, and Marsh, has thrown a flood of light upon the early history of this family, and upon its relations to other mammals. It is now known that llamas at one time were not confined to the part of the continent south of the Isthmus of Panama, as at the present day, since abundant llama-like remains have been found in Pleistocene deposits in the Rocky Mountains and in Central America. Some of the fossil llamas were much larger than current llamas. Some species remained North America during the last ice ages. North American llamas are categorized as a single extinct genus, Hemiauchenia. 25,000 years ago, llama-like animals would have been a common sight in modern-day California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Missouri, and Florida.