Question

Fill in the blanks appropriate words.
Desert mammals are adapted to water shortage by having nephrons with longer___________.

Answer 1

Hint: The water balance in our body is maintained by the kidneys, which excrete the extra water in urine under normal conditions. The animals or mammals living in desert conditions, have adapted themselves to prevent the maximum loss of water from their body by some modifications in kidney structure.

Complete answer:
In animals or mammals' bodies, the kidneys are the main site where waste and extra material is actively excreted out from the body like urea, uric acid, excess water, minerals, glucose etc. The blood is filtered in Bowman's capsule with the help of glomerulus, a network of blood vessels. The filtrate is passed through a network of fine tubes,which is called the loop of Henle. Here, the water and other necessary and important substances are selectively reabsorbed with the help of blood vessels spread around the loop of Henle and transfer these materials into the blood. The animals living in the desert have less availability of water. So, their bodies adapt themselves according to local environmental conditions, and the structure of nephrons is modified. These desert animals have a longer loop of Henle hence less water is excreted out. Thus, the desert mammals are adapted to water shortage by having nephrons with a longer loop of Henle.

Note: Water conservation is an important feature of animals living in desert or dry conditions. They try to store more water in their body and excrete out very less amount of water in urine. Their urine is mostly concentrated with very less water. In the case of birds and reptiles, they produce solid urine to prevent maximum water loss.