The Western Jackdaw (Corvus monedula), sometimes known as the Eurasian

Question

The Western Jackdaw (Corvus monedula), sometimes known as the Eurasian Jackdaw, European Jackdaw or simply Jackdaw, is a passerine bird in the crow family. Found across Europe, western Asia and North Africa, it is mostly resident, although northern and Eastern populations migrate south in winter. Four subspecies are recognized, which mainly differ in the coloration of the plumage on the head and nape. Carl Linnaeus first classified the bird and described it formally, giving it the name Corvus monedula because of the bird’s supposed fondness for picking up coins (monedula is Latin for money). Later analysis of its DNA suggests that, with its closest relative, the Darian Jackdaw, it is an early offshoot from the genus Corvus, and possibly distinct enough to warrant reclassification in a separate genus, Coloeus. In fact, one authority, the International Ornithological Congress, has recently reassigned the two jackdaw species from the genus Corvus to the genus Coloeus.

Unlike many of its close relatives, the Western Jackdaw has a completely black-plumage with a grey nape and distinctive pale-grey irises. However, like those relatives, it is gregarious and vocal, living in small groups with a complex social structure in farmland, open woodland, on coastal cliffs, and in urban settings. An omnivorous and opportunistic feeder, it eats a wide variety of plant material and invertebrates, as well as food waste from urban areas. Western Jackdaws are monogamous (have only one mate at a time) and build simple nests of sticks in cavities in trees, cliffs, or buildings. About five pale blue or blue-green eggs with brown speckles are laid and incubated by the female. The young fledge (leave the nest) in four to five weeks, sooner than other jackdaws, and the average lifespan of the bird is approximately five years compared.   1 
 Q1: Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the Darian Jackdaw?

(A) It is classified in the wrong genus
(B) It has a fondness for picking up coins
(C) It does not have black plumage
(D) It is found commonly in small groups
(E) It is a monogamous bird
 D

2 
Q2: According to the passage, a Western Jackdaw found in the southern Hemisphere during the winter months would most likely ______________

(A) live in the easternmost portion of the bird’s habitat
(B) have migrated from another location
(C) have plumage with an unusual coloration
(D) have a greater life expectancy than most jackdaws
(E) have traveled a great distance from it’s usual habitat 
 B

3 
 Q3: Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage above?

(A) The Western Jackdaw eats more plant material and invertebrates than human food waste.
(B) The Western Jackdaw belongs to the genus Coloeus.
(C) The Western Jackdaw has only one mate throughout its lifespan.
(D) The Western Jackdaw is able to fly sooner than its close relatives.
(E) The Western Jackdaw is more social than its close relatives.
 d

4 
 Q4: Which of the following can properly be inferred about Carl Linnaeus from the passage above?

(A) He was the first to discover the Western Jackdaw.
(B) He believed that the Western Jackdaw was fond of coins.
(C) His classification of the Western Jackdaw was wrong.
(D) His prior classifications do not always agree with current DNA data.
(E) He was a member of the International Ornithological Congress.
 D

raunakme19 · Accepted Answer

Q1: Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the Darian Jackdaw?

(A) It is classified in the wrong genus - Cannot be inferred as the passage says " Later analysis of its DNA suggests that, with its closest relative, the Darian Jackdaw, is an early offshoot from the genus Corvus, and possibly distinct enough to warrant reclassification in a separate genus, Coloeus  - Here "it" doesn't refer to Darian Jackdaw - wrong
(B) It has a fondness for picking up coins -  this statement has been told for Western Jackdaw   - wrong
(C) It does not have black plumage -   The passage says   Unlike many of its close relatives, the Western Jackdaw has a completely black-plumage with a grey nape and distinctive pale-grey irises.   _  "many' doesn't necessarily include Darian Jackdaw too. - wrong
(D) It is found commonly in small groups -  In the first paragraph in the 4th last line, the author says that Darian Jackdaw is the closest relative of Western Jackdaw. In the last paragraph the author says  :  However, like those relatives, it is gregarious and vocal, living in small groups with a complex social structure in farmland, -  Can clearly infer that Darian Jackdaw was found in smally groups-  Correct
(E) It is a monogamous bird -  No..it has been inferred for Western Jackdaws - Wrong

Q2: According to the passage, a Western Jackdaw found in the southern Hemisphere during the winter months would most likely ______________

(A) live in the easternmost portion of the bird’s habitat
(B) have migrated from another location - From the line :  Found across Europe, western Asia and North Africa, it is mostly resident, although northern and Eastern populations migrate south in winter. , one can clearly infer this option- Correct
(C) have plumage with an unusual coloration
(D) have a greater life expectancy than most jackdaws
(E) have traveled a great distance from it’s usual habitat

Q3: Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage above?

(A) The Western Jackdaw eats more plant material and invertebrates than human food waste.
(B) The Western Jackdaw belongs to the genus Coloeus.
(C) The Western Jackdaw has only one mate throughout its lifespan.
(D) The Western Jackdaw is able to fly sooner than its close relatives- Can be inferred from the sentence:  The young fledge (leave the nest) in four to five weeks, sooner than other jackdaws, and the  -Correct
(E) The Western Jackdaw is more social than its close relatives.

Q4: Which of the following can properly be inferred about Carl Linnaeus from the passage above?

(A) He was the first to discover the Western Jackdaw  No...He was first to classify and not discover. 
(B) He believed that the Western Jackdaw was fond of coins-  No..it was not his belief rather it was a fact..so out... 
(C) His classification of the Western Jackdaw was wrong-  No ..it can't be inferred... 
(D) His prior classifications do not always agree with current DNA data -  Yes, can be inferred...So yes by POE - Correct
(E) He was a member of the International Ornithological Congress.. Clear no...

akhil911 · Answer

Question 
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the Darian Jackdaw?

It is classified in the wrong genus
 It has a fondness for picking up coins
 It does not have black plumage
 It is found commonly in small groups
 It is a monogamous bird

Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage above?

The Western Jackdaw eats more plant material and invertebrates than human food waste.
 The Western Jackdaw belongs to the genus Coloeus.
 The Western Jackdaw has only one mate throughout its lifespan.
 The Western Jackdaw is able to fly sooner than its close relatives.
 The Western Jackdaw is more social than its close relatives.

Which of the following can properly be inferred about Carl Linnaeus from the passage above?

He was the first to discover the Western Jackdaw.
 He believed that the Western Jackdaw was fond of coins.
 His classification of the Western Jackdaw was wrong.
 His prior classifications do not always agree with current DNA data.
 He was a member of the International Ornithological Congress.

According to the passage, a Western Jackdaw found in the southern Hemisphere during the winter months would most likely ______________

live in the easternmost portion of the bird’s habitat
 have migrated from another location
 have plumage with an unusual coloration
 have a greater life expectancy than most jackdaws
 have traveled a great distance from it’s usual habitat

LakerFan24 · Answer

can we not only get OAs but explanations too?

specifically, let's start w/:

Question: 
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the Darian Jackdaw?

It is classified in the wrong genus
It has a fondness for picking up coins
It does not have black plumage
It is found commonly in small groups
It is a monogamous bird

and

Question
According to the passage, a Western Jackdaw found in the southern Hemisphere during the winter months would most likely ______________

live in the easternmost portion of the bird’s habitat
have migrated from another location
have plumage with an unusual coloration
have a greater life expectancy than most jackdaws
have traveled a great distance from it’s usual habitat

yoavyes · Answer

Hey ! help is needed, just took the veritas CAT (was totally hard)

Can someone help with Q1?
I understand that Darian Jackdaw (DJ) is the closest relative of the Westren Jackdaw (WJ).
but when talking about  "many of its close relatives"   (and not "all of its close relative") and assuming that the DJ also have the same exact feature is not too far assumption?
lets say for example - a group of relatives DJ included and the DJ is the closest to the WJ but one thing it isn't found in small groups - isn't it enough to say that we can't infer it?

Heisenberg12 · Answer

Hey, I chose D for the last question and even I was confused between B and D.

The only reason I thought D is a better option than B was that the passage says, "WJ was fond of  picking  up coins" while the answer option says, "Carl believed WJ was fond of coins". There's a little change of meaning there.

Hope that helps!

BloomingLotus · Answer

Hi ,

Can someone help me in clearing doubt in question 3.

I was confused between Option B and Option D.

First passage states that the bird was move from Corvus to the genus Coloeus. (makes option B correct)

Second passage states that bird leaves nest earlier ,compared to relatives . (Makes option D correct assuming leaving nest is equivalent to started flying)

Thanks!

chibilovespurple · Answer

Hi. Hope that my answer is not too late (just took a Veritas CAT yesterday).

The bird was move from Corvus to Coloeus... not mean 100% that the new classification is correct.

Actually, it is just...

and POSSIBLY distinct enough to warrant reclassification in a separate genus, Coloeus.

sananoor · Answer

Its a good passage; however, i found answer choices for question 2 and 3 too general.
first of all, it was the young western jackdaw that can fly sooner than other jackdaws...so simply writing western jackdaw can fly sooner than other relatives make it too general and i have to think like 3 mins either i should pick this choice or not because even a single word make the option wrong.
and for question 3 *do not always* agree with DNA tests.....Now we know that passage mention that later analysis of DNA but no where it is mentioned that His prior classifications do not *always agree* with current DNA data.

Raksat · Answer

the passage says : Unlike  many of its close relatives , the Western Jackdaw has a completely black-plumage with a grey nape
which means some have of its close relatives may or maynot have a complete black-plumage but not all. We cannot absolutely be sure about that, hence certain ambiguity exists. Therefore Option C is incorrect

TaN1213 · Answer

Passage excerpt:  Unlike many of its close relatives, the Western Jackdaw has a completely  black-plumage with a grey nape and distinctive pale-grey irises.

abbreviation : black-plumage (B)
grey nape and distinctive pale-grey irises (GN)
Western Jackdaw (WJ)

This line says: 
WJ has (B+GN)
Other close relatives don't have the  combination  of 'B+GN'

Here we cannot infer that other relatives don't have 'B'. It is possible that they have B + yellow nape, for example, or simply a B.

Hence, C is incorrect.

Lowkya · Answer

My explanation for Q1.

Q1: Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the Darian Jackdaw?

(A) It is classified in the wrong genus.  - WJ is classified as wrong species, not DJ. 
(B) It has a fondness for picking up coins.  - WJ is told to have a fondness for picking up coins but we cannot tell same about DJ. 
(C) It does not have black plumage.  - WJ has black plumage and DJ differ form WJ in plumage but from this, we cannot infer that they do not have black plumage. 
(D) It is found commonly in small groups.  - Yes, stated in the passage as "However, like those relatives, it is gregarious and vocal, living in small groups with a complex social structure in farmland, open woodland, on coastal cliffs, and in urban settings." 
(E) It is a monogamous bird.  - Not stated anything about this in regard to DJ.

Lowkya · Answer

This question tests about the below content from the passage.
 "Found across Europe, western Asia, and North Africa, it is mostly resident, although northern and Eastern populations migrate south in winter."

Q2: According to the passage, a Western Jackdaw found in the Southern Hemisphere during the winter months would most likely ______________

(A) live in the easternmost portion of the bird’s habitat.  - Not stated in the passage. 
(B) have migrated from another location.  - Yes, we can tell this as they don't stay in Southern Hemisphere. 
(C) have plumage with an unusual coloration.  - We cannot conclude on this. 
(D) have a greater life expectancy than most jackdaws.  - We cannot conclude on this. 
(E) have traveled a great distance from its usual habitat.  - We cannot conclude on this.

dharam44 · Answer

In question 3, why answer is not B?

adstudy · Answer

Hi dharam44 , B option states - (B) The Western Jackdaw belongs to the genus Coloeus. B can be removed on the basis of the below excerpt from the passage - Later analysis of its DNA suggests that, with its closest relative, the Darian Jackdaw, it is an early offshoot from the genus Corvus, and possibly distinct enough to warrant reclassification in a separate genus, Coloeus . In fact, one authority, the International Ornithological Congress, has recently reassigned the two jackdaw species from the genus Corvus to the genus Coloeus. The excerpt uses the terminology of possibly, which means the author is not sure of this classification but as per answer choice we have the word belongs which means that WJ is definitely a part of the genus, Coloeus. Hence this proves why B is wrong. Hope it helps

Edit - Adding one more thing. The above stated reason is also the cause why 'C' in 'Question 4' is wrong

aniket16c · Answer

Dear Experts:
 mikemcgarry   IanStewart   VeritasKarishma   daagh   EMPOWERgmatVerbal   EMPOWERgmatRichC   AjiteshArun   nightblade354   walker   DmitryFarber

In this question, option D means "prior classification". How can we be sure that the classifications point to the "bird classification" or some other classifications?
may be he classified some "fish" before he classified this bird. How do we know if the question is specifically referring to the "bird classification only"?

KarishmaB · Answer

Doesn't matter how many distinct classifications he did. Prior classification means all prior classifications. 
We see an example of one of his prior classification which does not agree with current DNA - Western Jackdaw from Corvus to Coloeus.

So we can infer that his prior classifications do not ALWAYS agree with current DNA data. They do not always agree, they may in some cases, may not in others. We have an example in which it doesn't so we can say that they don't agree always. Sometimes they may, sometimes they may not.

aniket16c · Answer

Dear  VeritasKarishma 
Thank you for the explanation!
I agree that if one classification is incorrect, we can say that all classifications do not ALWAYS agree with correct DNA data. However, it seems I did not correctly articulate my doubt. 
My doubt is more about use of the word "prior". 
Prior means " a previous". Hence, doesn't this question focus on the classifications he did before the "Jackdaw bird" classification?
We do not have any information about "prior classification".

Harsh2111s · Answer

In option D "The Western Jackdaw is able to fly sooner than its close relatives.".
The below line doesn't suggest western jackdaw was able to fly sooner than its relatives.

"The young fledge (leave the nest) in four to five weeks, sooner than other jackdaws".
There can be the case young fledge know how to fly but they didn't left the nest.
Thus we can't infer option D from the passage.

VeritasKarishma   VeritasPrepBrandon   VeritasPrepBrian   VeritasPrepHailey 
Kindly explain

KarishmaB · Answer

Note that option (D) says "... is ABLE to fly ..."
So it has the capability to fly. Whether every Jackdaw flies early or not doesn't matter. It has the capability as per our passage. 
Our passage anyway suggests that the young of western jackdaw leave the nest sooner than other jackdaws so our passage tells us that generally speaking, they do leave the nest early. Look, it doesn't matter if every single jackdaw does not leave the nest early. It is a characteristic of the species. There might be some variations here and there. Option (D) also gives the characteristic of the species.

I think you are confusing it with the other way around - if the passage said "they have the ability to fly sooner" while option (D) said "they fly sooner" then we would wonder whether they actually do fly sooner.

As given in our actual question, option (D) is certainly correct.

The Western Jackdaw (Corvus monedula), sometimes known as the Eurasian

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

The Western Jackdaw (Corvus monedula), sometimes known as the Eurasian

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards