[4] The closest relative of Paracamelus is disputed, with authors variously suggesting Megacamelus, Procamelus, and Megatylopus as likely candidates.

[5] During the latest Miocene around 6 million years ago, the genus spread to Eurasia across the Bering land bridge, arriving in Spain just prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis at approximately 6 Ma,[6] with the earliest fossils in Africa around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, approximately 5.3 million years ago,[7] though they may have dispersed into the region somewhat earlier.

Paracamelus, are known from Ellesmere Island in the Arctic Circle in the far north of North America, dating to the Pliocene, around 3.4 million years old, when global temperatures were around 2-3 °C warmer than present, with the local environment being a boreal forest.

These camels may have survived in the region into the Early Pleistocene based on poorly dated fossils found in Yukon.

The close relationship between these high Arctic and Yukon camels and modern Camelus has been confirmed by analysis of their collagen sequences.