The Guanaco's Supercharged Blood

A teaspoon of guanaco blood holds 68 million red blood cells.

The guanaco is a wild camelid native to South America.

The guanaco weighs 90 to 140 kilograms.

The soft undercoat hairs measure just 16 to 18 micrometers across.

Guanacos graze on grasses, shrubs, lichens, fungi and cacti.

Guanacos thrive at altitudes up to 4,000 meters above sea level.

Small herds consist of one male and several females with young.

A threatened guanaco warns the herd with a high-pitched bleat.

Guanacos can run up to 64 kilometers per hour across open grasslands.

Threatened guanacos spit up to 1.8 meters at their enemies.

Males fight violently between December and February for breeding rights.

A single baby chulengo walks immediately after being born.

Molecular analysis in 2001 confirmed guanacos parented the domestic llama.