Which can be excluded due to the absence of fossil records?(1 point)
Responses
the body of a jellyfish
the body of a jellyfish
the shell of a crab
the shell of a crab
a dinosaur's backbone
a dinosaur's backbone
the shell of a snail
None of the options listed can be definitively excluded due to the absence of fossil records for several reasons:
1. The body of a jellyfish: Jellyfish are soft-bodied organisms, and their bodies are less likely to fossilize compared to hard parts such as shells or bones. However, under exceptional circumstances, soft-bodied organisms can leave fossils, such as impressions or molds, particularly in fine-grained sediment.
2. The shell of a crab: Crab shells are hard parts that can fossilize well. They have a better chance of being preserved in the fossil record than soft tissues. Even if a particular species' shell has not been found, it does not mean it did not exist or cannot be found in the future.
3. A dinosaur's backbone: Dinosaur bones, including backbones, are commonly found in the fossil record because bones can fossilize well. The absence of a particular dinosaur's backbone in the fossil record might be due to various factors like erosion, lack of fossilization opportunities, or simply not having been discovered yet.
4. The shell of a snail: Like crab shells, snail shells are also hard parts that have a good chance of being preserved as fossils. Snail shells are commonly found in the fossil record.
The absence of a fossil record for any of these could be due to incomplete sampling, the conditions not being right for fossilization, or the fossils may be undiscovered or not recognized as such. It's also worth noting that the fossil record is inherently incomplete due to the various biases and limitations in how organisms are preserved and discovered.