Question: It has long been thought that lizards evolves from a group of amphibians called anthracosaurs, no fossils of which have been found in any rocks older than 300 million years. However, a fossil of a lizard was recently found that is estimated to be 340 million years old. Lizards could not have evolved from creatures that did not exist until after the first lizards. Therefore, lizards did not have evolved from anthracosaurs.

An assumption made in the argument is that there are no

(A) unknown anthracosaur fossils older than 340 million years
(B) unknown lizard fossils older than 340 million years
(C) known lizard fossils that predate some anthracosaur fossils
(D) known anthracosaur fossils that predate some lizard fossils
(E) known lizard fossils whose age is uncertain

Answer: A
Explanation:

Analytical and critical thinking abilities are assessed on the GMAT's critical reasoning section. The candidate must have strong cognitive abilities in order to react coherently.

Pre-thinking:
Reasoning: Since lizard fossils precede all anthracosaur fossils, lizards cannot have evolved from an organism that appeared considerably later in time than themselves.
The conclusion will suffocate if there is any reason to think that anthracosaurs existed before the first known lizard.

Hypothesis: There are no 340-year-old anthracosaur fossils or other pieces of evidence that haven't been dug up or discovered.
Inquiry stem: The argument makes the assumption that there are

Let's look at each option separately.

A: Correct
It is the correct choice. This is consistent with the idea that there are no such fossils. If we disprove this, we will be unable to support the assertion that lizards are not the descendants of anthracosaurs.

B: Inaccurate
Option B is incorrect because, if the existence of anthracosaurs before lizards is not demonstrated, the evidence provided by a 340-year-old lizard alone is sufficient to assess the evolution. Even after disputing this, the conclusion is still valid.

C: Inaccurate
It is an incorrect answer. Even if there are any, they do not demonstrate how A developed from B. It will resemble a fossilized dog that existed before rabbits. not even connected.

D: Inaccurate
This choice is irrelevant and incorrect. The use of the word “some” is the reason for it being irrelevant.

E: Inaccurate
E is incorrect. If lizards had been present instead of antracosaurs, it might have been a candidate.

“It has long been thought that lizards evolves from a group of amphibians called anthracosaurs” – is a GMAT Critical question. To answer the question, a candidate can either find a piece of evidence that would weaken the argument or have logical flaws in the argument. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. This topic requires candidates to find the argument's strengths and weaknesses or the logical flaw in the argument. The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.

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