Recently Discovered Fossil Evidence Casts Doubt on the Evolutionary Theory

Question: Recently discovered fossil evidence casts doubt on the evolutionary theory that dinosaurs are more closely related to reptiles than to other classes of animals. Fossils show that some dinosaurs had hollow bones-a feature found today only in warm-blooded creatures, such as birds, that have a high metabolic rate. Dinosaurs had well-developed senses of sight and hearing, which is not true of present-day cold-blooded creatures like reptiles. The highly arched mouth roof of some dinosaurs would have permitted them to breathe while eating, as fast-breathing animals, such as birds, need to do. Today, all fast-breathing animals are warm-blooded. Finally, fossils reveal that many dinosaurs had a pattern of growth typical of warm-blooded animals.

The argument in the passage proceeds by

1. attempting to justify one position by demonstrating that an opposing position is based on erroneous information
2. establishing a general principle that it then uses to draw a conclusion about a particular case
3. dismissing a claim made about the present on the basis of historical evidence
4. assuming that if all members of a category have a certain property then all things with that property belong to the category
5. presenting evidence that a past phenomenon is more similar to one rather than the other of two present-day phenomena

Recently Discovered Fossil Evidence Casts Doubt on the Evolutionary Theory - is a GMAT Critical question. This particular GMAT Critical Reasoning topic has been taken from ‘ Manhattan Prep GMAT Critical Reasoning 6th Edition’. This GMAT critical reasoning question is examining how well a candidate can analyze the argument, find its flaws, and develop a plan of action. in GMAT critical reasoning an assumption is an implied hypothesis. So we are looking for something that is implied in the argument. In case it is wrong or maybe disable the argument. The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions. 

Answer: E
Explanation:
A GMAT Critical Reasoning section comprises some facts and arguments. GMAT critical reasoning tests the reasoning abilities of the candidates. The candidate has to find out the correct option by finding the logically correct argument or by eliminating the irrelevant arguments.

The focus of the argument is that recently discovered dinosaurs fossils support that dinosaurs were warm-blooded animals (like birds). They were not cold-blooded (like reptiles).
The passage then provides 4 specific points why it is likely that dinosaurs were warm-blooded. We will discuss those points before proceeding to options.

The author uses present-day evidence (warm-blooded vs cold-blooded animals today) to establish something about the past. We can check the table below for more details provided in the passage. 

Now, we will look at the options one at a time. 

Option A: Incorrect. 
– The passage attempts to justify "dinosaurs were warm-blooded" and oppose "dinosaurs were cold-blooded".The passage does not give any erroneous info on which cold-blooded position is based. Instead, it gives recent discovery evidence that suggests warm-blooded.

Option B: Incorrect. 
 – The argument does not really establish any general principle. A general principle would be something like "only warm-blooded animals have hollow bones".The author gives us facts about today - today only warm-blooded animals have hollow bones - and says that since dinosaurs' fossils show that they had hollow bones, dinosaurs must have been warm-blooded, etc.

Option C: Incorrect. 
 – It is the other way around. He makes a claim about the past based on present-day evidence.

Option D: Incorrect. 
 – No. This is too strong. The passage merely implies, that “fossil evidence casts doubt on the evolutionary theory that dinosaurs are more closely related to reptiles than to other classes of animals.”

Option E: Correct. 
 – Correct. He says that dinosaurs were more similar to warm-blooded animals than to cold-blooded animals.

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