Ornithologist: Support The curvature of the claws of modern tree-dwelling birds enables them to perch in trees. ███ █████ ██ █████████████ ███ ████████ █████ ████████ █████████ ████ ███████ █████████ ████ ████ ████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ██████████ ████████████ ███ ████████ █ █████████████ █████████
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The ornithologist points out that the curvature of the claws of modern tree-dwelling birds is what allows them to perch in trees, and Archeopteryx's claws had a similar curvature. The ornithologist concludes that Archeopteryx was a tree-dwelling creature. The paleontologist counters that Archeopteryx's ability to perch in trees is not sufficient to show that it was tree-dwelling. As evidence, the paleontologist points to the case of chickens, which spend time perched in trees, but are primarily ground-dwelling birds.
Notice why the paleontologist's response works. The ornithologist argues that because Archeopteryx, like these modern tree-dwelling birds, had curved claws allowing it to perch in trees, Archeopteryx must also share the trait of dwelling in trees (notice that this is a form of argument by analogy). This assumes that just being able to perch in trees necessarily means a creature dwells in trees, and the paleontologist undermines this assumption by providing a counterexample: chickens can perch in trees and yet are mostly ground-dwelling. This example undermines the analogy the ornithologist draws.
In responding to the ornithologist's ██████████ ████ ████████████ ███ ██████████████ ███ ██████████████
questions the qualifications ██ ███ █████████████ ██ ████████ ███ ████████
The paleontologist never mentions the ornithologist’s qualifications. Rather, the paleontologist questions whether the ornithologist’s evidence is sufficient, based on the example of a modern bird.
denies the truth ██ ███ ██████ ███ █████████████ █████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████
The paleontologist does not deny that curved claws enable birds to perch in trees, nor does he deny that Archeopteryx also had curved claws and could perch in trees. He just denies that this evidence is enough to show that Archeopteryx was a tree-dwelling bird.
uses a parallel ████ ██ ██████████ █ ████████ ██ ███ ███████████████ ████████
This accurately describes the paleontologist's argument. The parallel case the paleontologist uses is the case of chickens, which can also perch in trees (suggesting they also have curved claws), but are primarily ground-dwelling birds. The paleontologist uses this example to undermine the ornithologist's assumption that the ability to perch in trees, shared between modern tree-dwelling birds and Archeopteryx, is enough to establish that Archeopteryx was a tree-dwelling bird. Chickens are also able to perch in trees, but aren't tree-dwelling.
shows that the ██████████ ███████████ ███ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ ████ ██ ███████ ██
The paleontologist does not claim that the ornithologist’s hypothesis contradicts the evidence offered in support of it. Rather, the paleontologist claims that the ornithologist’s evidence is not sufficient to support the hypothesis: the fact that modern tree-dwelling birds have curved claws allowing them to perch in trees, and Archeopteryx did too, isn't enough to establish that Archeopteryx was tree-dwelling.
provides additional evidence ██ ███████ ███ ███████████████ ████████
The paleontologist does not support the ornithologist’s argument. The evidence the paleontologist provides — the example of chickens — is not meant to support the ornithologist's conclusion, but to show that the ornithologist’s evidence isn't sufficient to support that conclusion.
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