Paleontologists hypothesize that modern birds evolved from the family

Question

Paleontologists hypothesize that modern birds evolved from the family of dinosaurs that included Tyrannosaurus rex. This hypothesis would be strongly supported if evidence that dinosaurs from this family had a body covering resembling feathers could be found, but so far no such evidence has been found.

Which of the following, if true, would most help the paleontologists explain why no evidence of feathered dinosaurs has yet been found?

A. Fossilized dinosaurs have shown many birdlike characteristics, such as bone structure and winglike arms.

B. If birds are in fact the descendants of dinosaurs, then it can be argued that the dinosaurs never really died out.

C. Flying dinosaurs such as the Pteranodon,which is not thought to have been related to modern birds, do not appear to have had feathers.

D. Soft tissues such as skin and feathers do not fossilize like bones, and therefore are far less likely to have left permanent evidence in the fossil record.

E. The thousands of dinosaur fossils excavated by paleontologists represent only a tiny fraction of the billions of dinosaurs that once lived.

VeritasPrepBrandon · Accepted Answer

This is a "best resolves the paradox" method of reasoning type critical reasoning question. In these questions, you have to insert a piece of evidence that bridges the gap between two seemingly conflicting pieces of information. Here that information is the idea that modern birds are thought to have evolved from dinosaurs, and that fossil evidence of dinosaurs with feather-like body covering would be helpful in supporting this hypothesis yet none have been discovered.

Answer choice A is a trap and out of scope. We are simply focused on reconciling the fact that no evidence of feather-like body covering has been discovered. We are not addressing other bird-like characteristics.

Answer choice B does not help at all. Whether you want to claim dinosaurs have "died out" or not does not impact the fact that no relevant fossils have been located. This answer choice can get you thinking almost philosophically and really distract you from the issue at hand.

Answer choice C is another trap. This answer choice baits you into thinking about other bird characteristics such as flying, and is thus similar to answer choice A.

Answer choice D nails it and is thus the correct answer. If feathers do not fossilize and are therefore unlikely to leave permanent fossil records, then that would perfectly explain how the hypothesis could be correct even though these fossils have not been found.

Answer choice E is tempting, but ultimately not our most convincing choice. Even if only thousands of fossils have been excavated, it is entirely possible that every single type of dinosaur that existed has been found. There are around 7 billion humans on this planet, but you don't have to find 7 billion fossils when we die to figure out what characteristics we all share.

I hope this helps!

sweetkriti · Answer

Nope, this doesn't answer anything. we already have best answer

Argument states that, paleontologist hypothesize that birds evolved from dinosaurs, but to prove this they have not found any evidence. We must look for an option which states something about why they have not found anything likely to conclude their hypothesis.

Abhishek009 · Answer

Family of dinosaurs ( Includes T.Rex )-----Evolution----->Birds
Feathers could not be found in T.Rex

Prethink why feathers could not be found in T.Rex.. 
 
  Only (D) logically answers why   Feathers could not be found in T.Rex

balaji4799 · Answer

As far as CR is concerned, I feel the major difference between sub 600, 600-700 and 700+ level questions are the difficulty in choosing options. The stimulus is as difficult in all three ranges, its only the closeness of options that's causing difficulty. Experts please comment

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The right answer is  D . This is a paradox question, and the 'paradox' is that there are no feathers found. We need to find an option therefore that explains why there are no feathers found.

D clearly does this by telling us that feathers are unlikely to be fossilized.

- Matoo

Utkarsha20 · Answer

Choice D  provides a direct scientific explanation for the absence of evidence. It states that soft tissues, like skin and feathers, do not fossilize as easily as hard materials like bone. This helps explain why a feathered dinosaur could have existed without leaving "permanent evidence in the fossil record".

Choice E , while plausible, is weaker than D. While it is true that only a tiny fraction of all dinosaurs have been fossilized, it does not explain why, among the thousands of fossils that have been found, none show evidence of feathers for this specific family.

Paleontologists hypothesize that modern birds evolved from the family

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Paleontologists hypothesize that modern birds evolved from the family

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