5

Set 5: Inferences (Advanced)

Explanation

Answer: B

PASSAGE

Paleontologists reconstructing dinosaur behavior face a fundamental problem: fossils preserve hard tissues but rarely behavior. Inferences must rely on analogies to living animals—comparing dinosaur anatomy to birds or crocodiles—but such comparisons assume that structure-function relationships remained constant across millions of years of evolution.

What epistemological limitation does the passage identify?

A. Fossils perfectly record all aspects of dinosaur life.
B. Inferences about extinct organisms depend on assumptions that cannot be directly verified.✓ Correct
C. Living animals have nothing in common with dinosaurs.
D. Dinosaur behavior is known with certainty.

Detailed Explanation

'Assume structure-function relationships remained constant' = unverifiable assumptions underlie inferences.

Key Evidence:

• "comparisons assume that structure-function relationships remained constant"

Why others are wrong: A (Fossils 'rarely' preserve behavior.), C (Analogies to birds and crocodiles are used.), D (It's inference, not certainty.).

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