There are several reports indicating that FA composition differs between adipose tissues or anatomical sites (Marchello et al., 1983 and Miller et al., 1990). Studies on the activity of lipogenic enzyme (O’Hea and Leveille, 1969, Anderson et al., 1972 and Mourot et al., 1996) suggest that some tissues have a greater potential to synthesise or store FA than others. It was hypothesized that differences in FA composition between tissues were due to development of the tissues in combination with the nutrient supply during the development. Perinephric tissue develops relatively late, and the greater FI during the later stages of growth would result in a greater contribution of de novo synthesized FA. As can be seen by comparing Table 4 and Table 5, differences in development between backfat and perinephric tissue did not result in differences in FA composition. Nevertheless, predictions were quite different from the observed results, suggesting that allometry alone is not sufficient to explain differences in FA composition. Consequently, it may be necessary to describe specifically the ability to synthesise or store certain FA in adipose tissues in order to explain differences in FA composition between tissues.