While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

* Pinnipeds, which include seals, sea lions, and walruses, live in and around water.
* Pinnipeds are descended not from sea animals but from four-legged, land-dwelling carnivores.
* Canadian paleobiological Natalia Rybczynski recently found a fossil with four legs, webbed toes, and the skull and teeth of a seal.
* Rybczynski refers to her rare find as a "transitional fossil."
* The fossil illustrates an early stage in the evolution of pinnipeds from their land-dwelling ancestors.

The student wants to emphasize the fossil's significance. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

Question

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

* Pinnipeds, which include seals, sea lions, and walruses, live in and around water.
* Pinnipeds are descended not from sea animals but from four-legged, land-dwelling carnivores.
* Canadian paleobiological Natalia Rybczynski recently found a fossil with four legs, webbed toes, and the skull and teeth of a seal.
* Rybczynski refers to her rare find as a "transitional fossil."
* The fossil illustrates an early stage in the evolution of pinnipeds from their land-dwelling ancestors.

The student wants to emphasize the fossil's significance. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

Accepted Answer

Having four legs but the skull and teeth of a seal, the rare fossil illustrates an early stage in the evolution of pinnipeds from their land-dwelling ancestors.

Answer

Canadian paleobiological Natalia Rybczynski's fossil has the skull and teeth of a seal, which, like sea lions and walruses, is a pinniped.

Answer

Pinnipeds are descended from four-legged, land-dwelling carnivores; a fossil that resembles both was recently found.

Answer

A "transitional fossil" was recently found by paleobiological Natalia Rybczynski.