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Zorluk: ZorWeaken

Paleoecologist: Fossilized tooth enamel from dwarf hippopotamuses on the island of Minoria shows a sharp increase in micro-wear scratches and carbon-13 isotope levels dating to 12,000 years ago. Because this change coincides with the earliest archaeological evidence of human arrival on Minoria, and carbon-13 enrichment indicates the consumption of tough coastal scrub rather than lush inland vegetation, researchers conclude that hunting pressure from human arrivals forced the hippopotamuses from their inland forest habitats into marginal coastal zones, leading to their extinction.

Which of the following statements, if true, most seriously undermine the paleoecologist's argument? (Select all that apply.)

  1. Sediment core data from Minoria show that an island-wide megadrought occurred 12,000 years ago, severely desiccating inland freshwater sources and wiping out the island's inland forest vegetation.Cevap
  2. Fossilized dwarf hippopotamus remains recovered from inland caves on Minoria demonstrate elevated carbon-13 levels and identical micro-wear patterns dating to several hundred years before the earliest human arrival.Cevap
  3. C
    Excavations of early human settlements in Minoria's inland valleys uncovered extensive caches of dwarf hippopotamus bones displaying clear butchery marks.
  4. D
    The mass spectrometer protocols used to analyze the Minoria enamel specimens have an estimated margin of measurement error of roughly five percent for carbon-13 concentration.
  5. E
    Mainland dwarf hippopotamus species facing heavy predation by large carnivores typically seek refuge in deep freshwater rivers rather than coastal scrublands.

Cevap

The statements that undermine the argument are the finding that an island-wide megadrought destroyed inland forests 12,000 years ago and the finding that the dietary shift occurred centuries prior to human arrival.
Both correct choices directly sever the proposed causal connection. One provides an alternative environmental cause (an island-wide drought that destroyed inland forests), showing that the dietary shift was driven by climatic destruction rather than human hunting pressure. The other demonstrates that the dietary shift occurred centuries before human arrival, showing that the phenomenon existed independently of any human presence.

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1
Identify the argument's premises and main conclusion
Premises: Minoria dwarf hippo enamel displays elevated carbon-13 and micro-wear at 12,000 BP (indicating a diet of coastal scrub), coinciding with human arrival. Conclusion: Human hunting pressure forced the hippos out of inland forests to coastal zones, causing extinction.
Deconstructing the argument isolates the causal leap from temporal correlation to human-induced displacement.
2
Determine the underlying causal assumptions and vulnerabilities
The author assumes human arrival caused the habitat displacement rather than an alternative environmental cause, and assumes the dietary shift did not precede human arrival.
Causal arguments on the LSAT are vulnerable to alternative causes, reversed causation, and pre-existing conditions.
3
Evaluate the choices for valid weaken mechanisms
The drought statement provides an alternative explanation for the loss of inland vegetation, and the pre-human fossil statement destroys the temporal correlation by demonstrating the shift happened before humans arrived.
Both findings directly invalidate the author's causal inference.

Anahtar Kavram

Weaking causal arguments via alternative explanations and pre-existing timeline disproof
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