The Following Questions Refer to the Description Below

question 66

Multiple Choice

The following questions refer to the description below.
You were asked to give a presentation about fossils to a group of young students. You tell the students that the fossil record shows how organisms can change over time, but unfortunately the fossil record is incomplete. After your talk a student tells you that his pet salamander has died and he wants his salamander to be fossilized. The boy plans to lay his salamander on the grass and cover the salamander's body with leaves and twigs. You had told the class that a critical step in the fossilization process is the burial of an organism.
-Another student asks you why the fossil record is incomplete. Which statement(s) below provide the most likely explanation?

• A)The larger the organisms, the slower they decay and therefore they fossilize better than small organisms.
• B)Large organisms have fewer predators and are longer-lived; as a result there are fewer of them preserved as fossils.
• C)Hard-shelled or bony organisms fossilize better than soft-bodied organisms.
• D)Not all habitats preserve fossils equally well; habitats that are acidic with little oxygen support few decomposers and contain well-preserved fossils.
• E)C and D

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