A plausible explanation of the disappearance of the dinosaurs is what is known as the comet theory. A large enough comet colliding with Earth could have caused a cloud of dust that enshrouded the planet and cooled the climate long enough to result in the dinosaur's demise.
Premise: A large enough comet colliding with Earth could have caused a cloud of dust that enshrouded the planet and cooled the climate long enough to result in the dinosaur's demise.
Conclusion: A plausible explanation of the disappearance of the dinosaurs is what is known as the comet theory
OK, so pretty straightforward argument. Honestly, given the amount of ways the LSAT could have spun this, it is best not try and "pre-think" this one out and just hope to see an alternate explanation or a weakener. Which of the following statements, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A) One of the various schools of paleontology adheres to an explanation for the disappearance of the dinosaurs that is significantly different from the comet theory. --
OK, cool. So these two theories aren't compatible. But, who cares? There could be 50,000 theories that agree with us. So this ridiculous. Out. B) Various species of animals from the same as dinosaurs and similar to them in physiology and habitat did not become extinct when dinosaurs did. --
I am usually skeptical of comparison answers, but let's analyze this a little more. It is a similar species, with similar living conditions, and yet they didn't go extinct. Hmm. They are similar in almost every way but the name. This does weaken it, because these fake-twins stayed around and our Dinos didn't. Both would have needed to go extinct to not weaken this. Bingo!C) It can not be determined from a study of dinosaur skeletons whether the animals died from the effects of a dust cloud. --
Tricky answer choice. They are trying to make you assume that because we do not know if something occurred, that it didn't occur. But this cannot be assumed! Maybe we just don't have the technology to analyze the bones, but they really did die from this. We just don't know. Out. D) Many other animal species from the era of the dinosaurs did not become extinct at the same time the dinosaurs did. --
This is why I pause with comparison answers. Look at this and please realize why this is different then B. These animal species could be completely different than our dinos. They could be a super species that developed a resistance to clouds and somehow learned to absorb dust for energy. The species are not the same, so they could be completely, ridiculously different. When species go extinct today on Earth, does every species go extinct? No. This is why this is wrong. We adapt to situations, just as these other species could. Out.
E) The consequences for the vegetation and animals of comet colliding with Earth are not fully understood. --
Once more, who cares? Does this mean the vegetation died off? And if so, does that meant the dinos were dependent on plants? We cannot make these assumptions. Out. _________________
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