Shark teeth are among the most common vertebrate fossils; yet fossilized shark skeletons are much less common—indeed,...

shunhe December 31, 2019

Hi @Julie-V,

The paradox concerns a prevalence in one kind of fossil and a dearth in another kind. Taking a closer look, there are two parts of the paradox here. One question is why are shark teeth so common, being one of the most common vertebrate fossils? Another question is why are fossilized shark skeletons so much less common, and indeed rare even among all fossilized vertebrates skeletons? The best answer would help answer both these questions, and this is why we can see that (D) is incorrect. (D) can be seeing as helping to resolve the apparent paradox, as it gives an answer to our first question, why there are so many shark teeth. But it doesn't address the second part at all, and so there might be another better answer out there. Indeed, (A) provides answers to both parts of the paradox, and so is a better answer than (D). Remember that our answers aren't in a vacuum on the LSAT. Here, we must not just find an adequate response, but the response that MOST helps resolve the paradox. Hope this helps!

the66guy October 29, 2021

Hi, I got the correct answer but was also considering answer choice B. Ultimately, answer choice A was closest to my inference, but I still could not point out the exact reason why B was wrong.

Why is B wrong?

Thanks!

Ravi February 8, 2022

@the66guy, B doesn't work because it doesn't explain why the skeletons are much more rare than the teeth are, so we can get rid of it.