Llama
Lama glama (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status not recordedmammals
The llama (Lama glama) is a living mammal in the family Camelidae, order Artiodactyla, also listed under the English name Guanaco. It falls in the large size class, with a representative adult body mass of 142.5 kg.
Quick facts about the llama
The llama is a terrestrial, diurnal herbivore. Gestation lasts 337.6 days, a litter has 1 young, and sexual maturity comes at 1.9 years; lifespan is given as 28.67 years, with values up to 61.47 years reported.
- Weight
- 112.5 kg – 142.5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 28.7 years – 61.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 338 days – 368 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 22.2 months – 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.685src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the llama
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.
Where does the llama live?
Not recorded
What is the llama?
The llama (; Spanish pronunciation: [ˈʎama] or [ˈʝama]; Lama glama) is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era.
Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is soft and contains only a small amount of lanolin. Llamas can learn simple tasks after a few repetitions. When using a pack, they can carry about 25 to 30% of their body weight for 8 to 13 km (5–8 miles). The name llama (also historically spelled "lama" or "glama") was adopted by European settlers from native Peruvian Quechua.
The ancestors of llamas are thought to have originated on the Great Plains of North America about 40 million years ago and subsequently migrated to South America about three million years ago during the Great American Interchange. 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 seven million llamas and alpacas in South America. Some were imported to the United States and Canada late in the 20th century; their descendants now number more than 158,000 llamas and 100,000 alpacas.
In Aymara mythology, llamas are important beings. The Heavenly Llama is said to drink water from the ocean and urinates as it rains. According to Aymara eschatology, llamas will return to the water springs and ponds where they come from at the end of time.
From the Wikipedia article “Llama” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Llama&oldid=1384098439), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the llama endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the llama classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyCamelidae
- genusLama
- SpeciesLama glama (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Camelus glama, Lama glama glama
Other names and names in other languages (32)
- GuanacoEnglish
- لاماArabic
- لامةArabic
- L'uanMapuche
- QawraAymara
- লামা (প্রাণী)Bangla
- Lama krotkáCzech
- ΛάμαGreek
- LamoEsperanto
- laamaFinnish
- למה מצויהHebrew
- लामा (पशु)Hindi
- LjamaCroatian
- lámaHungarian
- ԼամաArmenian
- LamaoIdo
- ラマJapanese
- リャマJapanese
- 라마Korean
- ല്ലാമMalayalam
- Лам гөрөөсMongolian
- लामाMarathi
- လာမာကုလားအုပ်Burmese
- Shádiʼááhdę́ę́ʼ tłʼízíNavajo
- lamaNorwegian Bokmål
- Lama andyjskaPolish
- LhamaPortuguese
- LamăRomanian
- ЛамаRussian
- லாமாTamil
- ยามาThai
- 大羊駝Chinese
Relatives of the llama
Other species in the same genus Lama.
Guanaco
Lama guanicoe
CompareLlama vs Guanaco
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a llama?
The llama is a mammal in the family Camelidae, order Artiodactyla, and tribe Lamini.
How heavy is a llama?
Adult llamas have a representative body mass of 142.5 kg, placing them in the large size class (25 to 250 kg).
What does a llama eat?
The llama is a herbivore.
How long does a llama live?
Lifespan is given as 28.67 years, with values up to 61.47 years reported by sources.
How long is a llama pregnant?
Gestation lasts 337.6 days, with values up to 368 days reported.
How many young does a llama have?
A llama has 1 young per litter, with 0.685 litters per year.
When does a llama reach sexual maturity?
Llamas reach sexual maturity at 1.9 years, with reported values from 1.9 to 2.0 years.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Llama (Lama glama). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/llama
“Llama (Lama glama).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/llama.
@misc{llama_2026,
title = {Llama (Lama glama)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/llama},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}