Question for-ma
For many years, the only existing fossil evidence of mixopterid eurypterids—an extinct family of large aquatic arthropods known as sea scorpions and related to modern arachnids and horseshoe crabs—came from four species living on the paleocontinent of Laurussia. In a discovery that expands our understanding of the geographical distribution of mixopterids, paleontologist Bo Wang and others have identified fossilized remains of a new mixopterid species, Terropterus xiushanensis, that lived over 400 million years ago on the paleocontinent of Gondwana.
According to the text, why was Wang and his team’s discovery of the Terropterus xiushanensis fossil significant?
The fossil constitutes the first evidence found by scientists that mixopterids lived more than 400 million years ago.
The fossil helps establish that mixopterids are more closely related to modern arachnids and horseshoe crabs than previously thought.
The fossil helps establish a more accurate timeline of the evolution of mixopterids on the paleocontinents of Laurussia and Gondwana.
The fossil constitutes the first evidence found by scientists that mixopterids existed outside the paleocontinent of Laurussia.
For many years, the only existing fossil evidence of mixopterid eurypterids-an extinct family of large aquatic
Hard-difficulty · SAT Reading & Writing · Central Ideas and Details — Key supporting details. Read the question above, select your answer, and check the full explanation below to understand exactly why the correct choice works.
Answer explanation
Choice D is the best answer because it states why Wang and his team’s discovery of the Terropterus xiushanensis fossil was significant. The text explains that up until Wang and his team’s discovery, the only fossil evidence of mixopterids came from the paleocontinent of Laurussia. Wang and his team, however, identified fossil remains of a mixopterid species from the paleocontinent Gondwana. Therefore, the team’s discovery was significant because the fossil remains of a mixopterid species were outside of the paleocontinent Laurussia.
Choice A is incorrect. Although the text states that Wang and his team identified fossilized remains of a mixopterid species that lived more than 400 million years ago, it doesn’t indie that mixopterid fossils previously found by scientists dated to a more recent period than that. Choice B is incorrect. Although the text states that mixopterids are related to modern arachnids and horseshoe crabs, it doesn’t suggest that the fossil discovered by Wang and his team confirmed that this relationship is closer than scientists had previously thought. Choice C is incorrect because the team’s fossil established the presence of mixopterids on Gondwana, not on Laurussia. Moreover, the text only discusses the fossil in relation to the geographical distribution of mixopterids, not in relation to their evolution.
More Central Ideas and Details practice questions
- The following text is from Shyam Selvadurai’s 1994 novel Funny Boy. The
- Elizabeth Asiedu has identified a negative correlation between the share of developing
- The following text is from David Barclay Moore’s 2022 novel Holler of the Fireflies
- In 1934 physicist Eugene Wigner posited the existence of a crystal consisting entirely of
- To protect themselves when being attacked, hagfish-jawless marine animals that resemble
- The painter María Izquierdo played an important role in the development of
- The following text is adapted from Edgar Allan Poe’s 1849 story
- Xin Wang and colleagues have discovered the earliest known example of a flower bud
Browse all Information and Ideas practice questions or return to the full SAT question bank.