LSAT 155 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q7

LR Question 7 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Thousands of fossils from the long-extinct dire wolf …

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: Pups younger than 6 months probably did not accompany adults that were scavenging or hunting.

REASONING: Thousands of dire wolf fossils were found in natural tar pits that preserved fossils for millennia. None of these fossils came from pups younger than 6 months old.

ANALYSIS: Sometimes, in a Necessary Assumption question, things will stand out as loose ends – not connected to the argument at all. These are often where the necessary assumption comes in.

Here, the conclusion is about whether pups hunted or scavenged with the adults. But we never hear anything about hunting and scavenging in the argument elsewhere, so how can we conclude that they didn’t hunt or scavenge? All we know about the pups from the argument is that they weren’t trapped in the tar pits, so the correct answer will probably link scavenging and hunting to getting trapped in the tar pits.

___________

1. This doesn’t allow us to draw the conclusion. If the argument was that the adults didn’t want to bring other wolves that didn’t increase the likelihood of success, then this would be a great answer.
2. This does not help our argument. In fact, if pups can escape the tar pits, then we wouldn’t be able to learn anything from the absence of pup fossils!
3. We don’t care how many other animals got trapped. We’re specifically comparing dire wolf adults to dire wolf pups.
4. CORRECT. This takes the absence of pups trapped in the tar pits, and connects it to the conclusion. Dire wolves most often got trapped when hunting and scavenging in the tar pits, and there are no pup fossils that were trapped there. That means the pups probably didn’t go hunting and scavenging.
5. This answer sounds really good. But we need the best answer, one which allows the conclusion to be drawn. This answer tells us that they often hunted and scavenged in the tar pits. But that doesn’t mean that pups didn’t come along without getting trapped.

Recap: The question begins with “Thousands of fossils from the long-extinct dire wolf “. It is a Necessary Assumption question. Learn how to master LSAT Necessary questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.