LSAT 144 – Section 4 – Question 25

LSAT 144 - Section 4 - Question 25

October 2015

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT144 S4 Q25
+LR
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
3%
155
B
15%
159
C
74%
166
D
4%
157
E
4%
158
148
156
163
 +Harder 147.675 +SubsectionMedium

Live Commentary

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Many bird and reptile species use hissing as a threat device against potential predators. The way these species produce hissing sounds is similar enough that it is likely that this behavior developed in an early common ancestor. At the time this common ancestor would have lived, however, none of its potential predators would have yet acquired the anatomy necessary to hear hissing sounds.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
Even though some bird and reptile species’ use of hissing as a threat device is likely to have developed in an early common ancestor, that common ancestor’s predators would not have been able to hear such hissing sounds.

Objective
The right answer will provide an alternate explanation for the common ancestor’s hissing. It will be a hypothesis that explains how the common ancestor’s hissing might have been useful as a threat device against potential predators, even though those predators could not hear the hissing.

A
Like its potential predators, the common ancestor of bird and reptile species would have lacked the anatomy necessary to hear hissing sounds.
The common ancestor’s inability to hear its own hissing does not provide any explanation for why it would have developed hissing in the first place. We need an answer that explains why hissing was advantageous for the common ancestor, even though its predators couldn’t hear it.
B
The common ancestor of bird and reptile species would probably have employed multiple threat devices against potential predators.
Even if the common ancestor defended itself in other ways, we still need an explanation for why the common ancestor developed hissing as a threat device even though its predators could not hear it. There must be some other reason for using hissing as a threat device.
C
The production of a hissing sound would have increased the apparent body size of the common ancestor of bird and reptile species.
This gives a reason why the common ancestor’s hissing might have been useful against predators: it made the animal seem larger. This explains why it developed hissing sounds, even though its predators couldn’t hear them.
D
The use of hissing as a threat device would have been less energetically costly than other threat behaviors available to the common ancestor of bird and reptile species.
Whether hissing was energetically costly does not explain why the common ancestor used it as a threat device even though predators couldn’t hear it. We need an answer that gives a different reason for using hissing as a threat device.
E
Unlike most modern bird and reptile species, the common ancestor of these species would have had few predators.
Even if the common ancestor had few predators, it would still have needed to defend itself against those predators. So, we still need an alternate reason that explains why the common ancestor developed hissing as a threat device.

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LSAT PrepTest 144 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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