PrepTest 110, Section 3, Question 24
Ringtail opossums are an Australian wildlife species that(75 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(8 more words not shown)
- AThere are fewer(20 more words not shown)
- BFoxes, which were(20 more words not shown)
- CThe ringtail opossums(20 more words not shown)
- DFew of the(14 more words not shown)
- ERingtail opossums that(20 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Were those opossums vulnerable because they were opossums, or because they had been raised in captivity?
That matters. An animal raised in captivity might have fewer skills for avoiding predators than one that grew up in the wild. If so, the foxes' success against these released animals might tell us more about their upbringing than about the danger to the native population as a whole. We need a reason to think the study applies to the animals already living in the wild.
There's another question: does that death rate threaten the population's survival? A species might lose many young animals and still sustain its population if enough survive and reproduce. Seventy-five percent sounds alarming, but the percentage alone doesn't answer that population question.
What we’re looking for
We're strengthening the conservationists' conclusion, so I'd look for help with one of those concerns. Showing that wild-raised opossums have the same difficulty defending themselves would make the released group more informative. Evidence that the losses are too severe for the population to replace could also help. We don't need one answer to settle every remaining question.
Working the answers
- A
Counting predator species doesn't tell us how much damage they do. One non-native predator species could kill more opossums than several native predator species combined. Having fewer kinds of non-native predators doesn't show that they threaten the population or remove the concern about the captive upbringing.
- B
Foxes could have adapted less successfully than some other introduced species and still be dangerous predators of opossums. The comparison doesn't tell us whether wild-raised opossums can defend themselves or whether foxes threaten the population. Relative success in adapting to the climate doesn't establish the needed effect on these animals.
- C
A similar diet doesn't establish similar ability to avoid a fox. The animals might have eaten the same kinds of food while learning very different survival skills. Nor does the choice establish that enough of that food is available in the wild. It doesn't resolve the concern about applying the captive group's results to the wider population.
- D
Competing for food is different from eating opossums. Non-native species could take food the opossums need without attacking the opossums themselves. That would leave food scarcity as a possible problem, whereas the conservationists favor predation as the explanation. D doesn't provide the needed support for that distinction.
- ECorrect
This addresses the main objection directly. Opossums raised in the wild defend themselves against foxes no more successfully than the captive-raised opossums. We therefore have less reason to dismiss the study's result as merely a consequence of captive upbringing.
That makes the high death rate among the released animals stronger evidence of a problem for the native population too. E doesn't prove that extinction will follow or that food scarcity plays no role. It strengthens the argument by removing a specific reason to doubt that the studied animals tell us about the wider population.
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