A drooping nose, a high hump, a slim neck, long legs and big eyes are the features that over 10,000 contestants will be strutting in a beauty pageant - for camels - in the Arabian Gulf.
The eight-day competition began on Wednesday in the typical grandiose style of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, with $US9 million ($A9.93 million) in cash prizes and 100 cars up for grabs.
The pageant is organised by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage to remind people of their heritage.
The "ships of the desert" are still celebrated in the oil-rich rapidly modernising Gulf Arab states as the symbol of the traditional nomadic life of the Bedouin.
Historically, Arabs used camels as an indispensable, efficient transport and sometimes as war machine and food.
Contestants should be pedigree camels free of contagious diseases and serious defects.
Camel racing is a popular sport and a lucrative business in the Gulf region.
Abu Dhabi is one of seven emirates that make up the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.