Carbon skeletons for amino acid biosynthesis are supplied by intermediates of the citric acid cycle. Which intermediate would supply the carbon skeleton for synthesis of a five-carbon amino acid? *

the answer is b because, investigating whether another species of moth also drinks tears might be interesting, but it would not directly explain why this species of moth does.

to explain why this species of moth drinks tears, the scientist could ask: "what nutrients that moths need are in elephant tears? "

the scientist could experiment with moth repellent or oter ways to keep the moths away, but that would not answer his original question.