PT142.S2.Q12 > Question

SECTION 1 · lr

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SECTION 2 · lr

SECTION 3 · rc

PASSAGE 1

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8

PASSAGE 2

Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16

PASSAGE 3

Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21

PASSAGE 4

Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25 Question 26 Question 27

SECTION 4 · lr

Why are fossils of sharks’ teeth so common while fossils of their skeletons are rare?

The right answer will be a hypothesis that explains a key difference between the teeth and skeletons of ancient sharks. That difference must result in fossilized teeth being more likely to be found, either because there are actually a higher number of fossilized teeth in the world or else because something makes it easier to discover those tooth fossils.

This explains a key difference between the teeth and skeletons of sharks. Shark skeletons, which are composed of cartilage, are much less likely to fossilize than shark teeth. Because of this, fossilized shark teeth are more likely to be found than fossilized shark skeletons.

This doesn’t explain the difference between shark teeth and shark skeletons or account for why fossilized shark skeletons are so rare. Fossilized shark skeletons and teeth may end up in different areas, but we still don’t know why fossilized shark teeth are more plentiful.

The stimulus tells us that shark teeth fossils are common. We can’t assume that those fossils are misidentified just because it’s difficult to distinguish them from fossils of other teeth. Also, we still have no information about why fossilized shark skeletons are so rare.

We can’t assume that something that applies to some shark species alive today also applies to those species that are now fossilized. Also, even if ancient sharks did lose lots of teeth, we still have no explanation for why fossilized shark skeletons are so much more rare.

If the fossilization processes of shark teeth and skeletons are equally common, it seems that the fossils should be equally common as well. We need a key difference between the two, not a similarity, in order to explain why tooth fossils are more common than skeleton fossils.

PrepTest 142 - Section 2 - Question 12

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