Which one of the following animals stores water in the intestine?

Answer: (b) Camel

UPSC’s answer follows the textbook idea that the camel’s stomach pouches store water. (Modern studies say camels mainly save water — and a thirsty camel can drink about 100 litres at once.)

The idea

Desert animals solve the water problem in different ways. The question follows old textbooks, which said the camel holds water in pouches of its stomach.

Camel: drinks a huge amount at once and loses very little → Moloch (thorny devil of Australia): skin grooves carry dew to its mouth → Spiny-tailed lizard of the Thar: gets water from the plants it eats → Kangaroo rat: never drinks; makes water from its food

Why the others are wrong

(a) The moloch (thorny devil) collects dew through grooves in its skin — it does not store it in its gut.

(c) Zebras need to drink regularly.

(d) Uromastix (spiny-tailed lizard) gets water from plants it eats.

The trap

The hump is fat, not water — but the question asks about the intestine, which is where the textbook places the camel’s water.

Also know

Water produced inside the body when food is broken down is called metabolic water. Modern biology: camels do not store water in the stomach; the key follows the older textbook view. The spiny-tailed lizard (sanda) of the Thar desert is hunted illegally for its fat.