The author suggests which one of the following about the Cretaceous crisis?
MarsfromFlon January 11, 2021
Why is E incorrect?
A bit perplexed why this answer is incorrect. Looking at lines 21-24, it explains how during this period dinosaurs were wiped out. Which lead me to think E is the correct answer.
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Thanks for the question! So the correct answer for this one is actually (D), that the rate of extinction among marine animal species as a result of the crisis didn’t approach 77%. Take a look at lines 26-29, which state that the Cretaceous crisis was minor compared to some other extinctions, and in those extinctions, between 77% and 96% of marine animal species were wiped out. Well, if the Cretaceous was minor compared to that, it couldn’t have gotten up to 77%. So that’s the support for (D).
(E), on the other hand, is wrong because it says that the dinosaurs comprised the great majority of species that perished during the crisis. But looking at those lines you pointed out, it just says that the age of the dinosaurs was ended. Just because it was “the age of the dinosaurs” doesn’t mean that dinosaurs must’ve been the great majority of species that perished. Maybe a bunch of other species perished, and the dinosaurs were just 25% or something. We can’t make that kind of leap and say that they were a great majority, so (E) is unsupported.
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.
