Logical Reasoning

PT133 · S2 · Q6 Recently discovered bird fossils are about

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Recently discovered bird fossils are about 20 million years older than the fossils of the birdlike dinosaurs from which the birds are generally claimed to have descended.

Evidence

Recently discovered bird fossils are about 20 million years older than the fossils of the birdlike dinosaurs from which the birds are generally claimed to have descended.

Conclusion

So these newly discovered fossils show, contrary to the account espoused by most paleontologists, that no bird descended from any dinosaur.

Evaluate

The conclusion goes too far. It might be fair to say that the bird fossils that predate the birdlike dinosaurs by 20 million years are from birds who did not descend from the suspected birdlike dinosaur. But these birds could have descended from another birdlike dinosaur.

6.

The reasoning in the argument is flawed in that the argument

  1. Correct

    draws a generalization that is

    Why this is right

    This points out the degree issue with the argument’s conclusion.

    Skill tested: Flaw · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    79% picked this

  2. rejects the consensus view of

    Contradiction

    The argument does provide counterevidence.

    3% picked this

  3. attacks the adherents of the

    Wrong Flaw

    The argument does not engage in personal attacks.

    0% picked this

  4. fails to consider the possibility

    Unsupported

    The argument’s conclusion does not preclude this as a possibility.

    4% picked this

  5. ignores the possibility that dinosaurs

    Unsupported

    The argument’s conclusion does not preclude this as a possibility.

    14% picked this

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