Many zoologists have taken to studying the DNA of American coyote populations in an attempt to learn more about ancient canid populations, the ancestors of modern dogs. One problem with this pursuit is that American coyote populations have interbred heavily with feral dog populations. Thus, any group of coyotes zoologists decide to study will have significant amounts of dog DNA in its communal genome.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the criticism made above of the zoologists' pursuit?
Conclusion: Any American coyotes that the zoologists choose to study wil have a dog's DNA in its genome.
A. All coyote populations have significant amounts of coyote DNA that can be easily distinguished from any dog DNA that might exist alongside it.
This weakens the argument by stating that both these DNAs will exist separately still allowing the scientists to study American coyotes separately and de-coupled with dogs.B. Most coyote populations have taken to foraging in the outskirts of human settlement.
The conclusion does not mention anything about the whereabouts, so this is out of scope.C. Many zoologists study more than one species of canid.
So what? They can study as many as they like but it doesn't show how the conclusion is flawedD. Many zoologists who study coyote DNA do not infer anything about ancient canids from the research they conduct.
This comes a close second, but again, this is outside the purview of the conclusion because what the scientists choose to do with the research is another matter altogether. Does not weaken the conclusion identified above.E. Even coyotes without any dog admixture differ substantially from ancient canids.