EH 4.1 () Version B

Last updated over 2 years ago

6 questions

My name is Dr. Zhang, and I've heard about the excellent work you did for the Natural History Museum. Dr. Mosley suggested you might be able to help our museum in China with some similar work.
We'd like help with a puzzle we've never been able to solve about a fossil found in a nearby dig site. Dr. Michelle Tometti, a visiting paleontologist, found this fossil several years ago, brought it to our museum, and assembled it. Unfortunately, this fossil has been sitting in our storage area for the last few years. It has never been displayed on the museum floor because it was never identified. You can help us by determining which type of organism the Tometti fossil could be most closely related to: the ostrich or the crocodile.

A few years ago, student paleontologists made a set of observations about the Tometti fossil. I want you to review these notes and determine which observations were made in a precise, careful way. We can then use the best observations as evidence for solving this mystery.

Summary here:

Which claim has more supporting evidence?

Which observations/evidence cards do you think would provide stronger or more convincing evidence to paleontologists? Why?
CFS:
student describes the relationship between anatomical similarities and differences in animal species
student describes the environmental difference between animal species with a common ancestor based on body structures

After day one of the fossil analysis, which claim do you think is most correct? Explain.
CFS:
student describes the relationship between anatomical similarities and differences in animal species
student describes the environmental difference between animal species with a common ancestor based on body structures