Question

Saturated fats have long straight tails of fatty acids, while unsaturated fats have kinks in their tails created by the double bonds. The kinks prevent the fatty acids from packing together as tightly. Ectothermic (cold blooded) animals need to keep their membranes fluid at cooler temperature and thus contain ______ their membranes.

A. mostly unsaturated fats in
B. mostly saturated fats in
C. no fatty acids in
D. a cell wall around
E. no lipids in

Answer 1

Ectothermic animals maintain fluid cell membranes in cooler environments by having mostly unsaturated fats in their membranes, due to the kinks caused by double bonds.

Step-by-step explanation:

Ectothermic (cold blooded) animals need to keep their membranes fluid at cooler temperatures. To achieve this, their cellular membranes contain mostly unsaturated fats because the kinks created by the double bonds in unsaturated fatty acids prevent the molecules from packing tightly together. This maintains the fluidity of the membrane crucial for function in cold environments, as opposed to saturated fats, which would solidify, making the membrane rigid and liable to rupture.