Read the introduction [paragraphs 1-8].Which sentence from the introduction supports the conclusion that people are often mistaken about fossils?AThat’s when they discovered a fragment of an ancient sea beast.BThey spotted a 4-inch-long, oval-shaped fossil.CThey concluded that the fossil was from an ichthyosaur.D“[Most] of the time, it turns out to be an odd-shaped rock.”

Is this a sentence fragment?Long ago, fossils were used as evidence to support mythical tales. In fact, fourth-century Chinese historian Chang Qu once mislabeled a giant dinosaur bone as that of a dragon.

Which statement explains what the geologist will most likely see when comparing fossils for different species of the organism selected in Part A?

What type of fossils provide the best detail?

Read this passage:Proof Found in Australia Links Humans to DinosaursThe Australian Society for the Study of Subcutaneous Cultures (ASSSC) today released information about the discovery of a previously unknown species of human that could provide more insight to when humans first walked the earth. A complete skeleton found on the Coast Plains, near Melbourne, has anthropologists excited about the possibility of adding another link to the chain of human history. Scientist Peter L. Reilly describes the find: "This mammal, which we have named Homo jurassicus parkus, appears to share several similarities with both modern humans and Jurassic-era dinosaurs. The skull shape, for instance, measures only 1/15th of a centimeter larger than the common Homo sapiens skull, and the metatarsal bones of the feet share a distinctive pattern with those identified from fossils belonging to Compsognathus, a genus of small, bipedal, carnivorous dinosaurs that are believed to have lived over 150 million years ago." Researchers have been flocking to the Canady site in hopes of finding more proof that dinosaurs and humans share a deeper connection than previously thought.What makes the passage sound believable?A.It uses scientific-sounding data.B.It is written in short sentences.C.It includes an extended title.D.It refers to a real country.SUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

In 2020, 11-year-old Ruby Reynolds and her dad, Justin, were walking around Blue Anchor Beach in England. That’s when they discovered a fragment of an ancient sea beast.They spotted a four-inch-long, oval-shaped fossil. Then Ruby found a second piece of fossilized bone about twice as big. Fossils are the remains of plants, animals and other tiny living things that have been replaced by rock material.Zoom inAn interpretive illustration shows what the Ichthyotitan severnensis might have looked like when it swam the seas. Illustration: Gabriel Ugueto/Washington PostRuby and Justin returned home to do some research. They concluded that the fossil was from an ichthyosaur. This was an ancient marine reptile. It was shaped like a modern-day dolphin.Next, Ruby and her dad emailed Dean Lomax. He’s a paleontologist at the University of Manchester in England. Paleontologists are scientists who use fossils to study the history of life on Earth.Lomax said he gets a couple of hundred messages a year from people sending photos of potential prehistoric fossils.“[Most] of the time, it turns out to be an odd-shaped rock. You have to politely and gently let them down,” Lomax said. But Justin and Ruby’s email was a rare exception.Ruby and Justin were right: The fossil did come from an ichthyosaur. In fact, it was a new species of ichthyosaur. A species is a group of similar living things that can mate and reproduce successfully to make offspring.This particular ichthyosaur lived about 202 million years ago. The father-daughter duo helped describe the prehistoric creature in a new study. In April, scientists published the study in a scientific journal.A Mysterious Gap In The Fossil RecordRuby and her dad only found pieces of the animal’s lower jawbone. But paleontologists estimate that the entire creature could have stretched 80 feet. That’s 24 meters. It could be the biggest marine reptile ever discovered.Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles that swam the seas during the age of dinosaurs. They emerged about 250 million years ago. There were at least 150 different types of ichthyosaurs.Zoom inLilstock Beach and Blue Anchor Beach are roughly 8 miles (13km) apart. Fragments of the ichthyosaur were found at both locations. Map: Newsela staffIn 2018, Lomax and colleagues made a similar discovery in nearby Lilstock Beach. They found fragments of a jawbone of a different giant ichthyosaur there. It also lived about 202 million years ago.Scientists have not found many other ichthyosaur fossils from this time period. That’s why the discovery is important. It helps scientists fill in a gap in the fossil record. The fossil record is the collection of all fossils that document the history of life on Earth.Finding two fossils from a similar time period gave the scientists the confidence to say it is a newly identified species. They named it Ichthyotitan severnensis.A Very Large IchthyosaurTo figure out the size of the new specimen based on its jaw alone, scientists made comparisons with other giant ichthyosaurs. But that still leaves some uncertainty.Lars Schmitz is a paleontologist at Claremont McKenna College in California. He said that he doesn’t care whether this newly discovered creature is the largest ichthyosaur ever found. What matters is that it is very big.The fossil’s large size provides a clue about how these marine reptiles evolved. Evolution is a process by which species undergo changes over time. These changes usually result in a new type of creature that is better suited for its environment than the earlier type.Ichthyosaurs evolved their large body size relatively quickly, but a mass extinction event about 201 million years ago seems to have wiped out the giants. A mass extinction event is when species go extinct, or disappear permanently, much faster than they are replaced. So far, only smaller ichthyosaurs appear to have survived the mass extinction event.Lomax hopes this new fossil discovery will make fossil hunters in the region revisit their collections and keep their eyes open. They might turn up bones from other giant ichthyosaurs.Ruby, who is now 15, says she’d love to find the rest of the fossil.