PrepTest 134, Section 2, Question 13
Some paleontologists believe that certain species of dinosaurs(56 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(5 more words not shown)
- Apaleontologists who believe(17 more words not shown)
- Bwe will never(12 more words not shown)
- Chadrosaurs guarded their(9 more words not shown)
- Dit is unclear(16 more words not shown)
- Ethe construction of(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Finding young dinosaurs in a nest doesn't tell us how long their parents stayed.
The nests initially seem like reasonable evidence of parental care. But a parent could build a nest, leave the young there, and stop guarding them long before the young leave. The fossilized babies and adolescents establish that the nest was used; they don't by themselves show a parent standing guard throughout that period.
The crocodiles make that concern concrete. They construct similar nests for hatchlings and adolescents, yet guard their young only briefly after hatching. So this kind of nest can exist without the prolonged guarding the paleontologists infer.
What we’re looking for
To complete the argument, I'd say the nest evidence isn't strong support for that belief. Be careful about the size of the conclusion. Maybe hadrosaurs really did guard their young for a long time. Showing that the offered evidence is weak isn't the same as showing that the belief is false.
Working the answers
- A
No evidence goes too far. We have questioned the strength of the nest evidence discussed here; we haven't surveyed everything paleontologists might know. They could have additional evidence for prolonged guarding. Even this evidence being weak doesn't mean that there is literally no evidence at all.
- B
Never is a prediction about every future discovery. The present comparison doesn't establish that we can never learn how long hadrosaurs guarded their young. It only shows why one kind of evidence doesn't settle the question now.
- C
The crocodiles guard their young briefly, but that doesn't prove hadrosaurs behaved exactly the same way. The comparison gives us a possible alternative to prolonged guarding. It doesn't require us to choose that alternative as the historical truth.
- D
The argument doesn't ask what hadrosaur fossils can tell us about other dinosaurs. They might reveal something useful about diet or other features. The specific question here is whether nests establish prolonged care of hadrosaur young.
- ECorrect
This matches the limited criticism. Similar nests occur among animals that don't guard their young for long, so constructing those nests isn't strong evidence of extended guarding. E lets the paleontologists' belief remain possible while explaining why this particular reason for believing it is not persuasive.
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