GMAT Reading Comprehension
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Source: GWD
Level: 3
Although many lines of evidence indicate that birds evolved from ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs, some scientists remainunconvinced. They argue that theropods appeared too late to have given rise to birds, noting that Archaeopteryx lithographic - the oldest known bird - appears in the fossil record about 150 million years ago, whereas the fossil remains of various nonavian maniraptor theropods - the closest known relatives of birds - date only to about 115 million years ago. But investigators have now uncovered bones that evidently belong to nonavian maniraptors dating to the time of Archaeopteryx. In any case, failure to find fossils of a predicted kind does not rule out their existence in an undiscovered deposit. Skeptics also argue that the fused clavicles (the "wishbone") of birds differ from the unfused clavicles of theropods. This objection was reasonable when only early theropod clavicles had been discovered, but fossilized theropod clavicles that look just like the wishbone of Archaeopteryx have now been unearthed. Finally, some scientists argue that the complex lungs of birds could not have evolved from theropod lungs, an assertion that cannot be supported or falsified at the moment, because no fossil lungs are preserved in the paleontological record.
In the context of the passage, the phrase "fossils of a predicted kind" (highlight) most likely refers to which of the following?
- A Theropod fossils with fused clavicles
- B Theropod fossils that are similar in structure to Archaeopteryx fossils
- C Theropod fossils dating back more than 150 million years
- D Fossils indicating the structure of theropod lungs
- E Fossils indicating the structure of Archaeopteryx lungs