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  3. Micro-wear patterns found on the teeth of long-extinct specimens of the primate species australopithecine may provide evidence a

Micro-wear patterns found on the teeth of long-extinct specimens of the primate species australopithecine may provide evidence a

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问题 Micro-wear patterns found on the teeth of long-extinct specimens of the primate species australopithecine may provide evidence about their diets. For example, on the basis of tooth micro-wear patterns, Walker dismisses Jolly’s hypothesis that australopithecines ate hard seeds. He also disputes Szalay’s suggestion that the heavy enamel of australopithecine teeth is an adaptation to bone crunching, since both seed cracking and bone crunching produce distinctive micro-wear characteristics on teeth. His conclusion that australopithecines were frugivores (fruit eaters) is based upon his observation that the tooth micro-wear characteristics of east African australopithecine specimens are indistinguishable from those of chimpanzees and orangutans, which are commonly assumed to be frugivorous primates.
However, research on the diets of contemporary primates suggests that micro-wear studies may have limited utility in determining the foods that are actually eaten. For example, insect eating, which can cause distinct micro-wear patterns, would not cause much tooth abrasion in modern baboons, who eat only soft-bodied insects rather than hard-bodied insects. In addition, the diets of current omnivorous primates vary considerably depending on the environments that different groups within a primate species inhabit; if australopithecines were omnivores too, we might expect to find considerable population variation in their tooth micro-wear patterns. Thus, Walker’s description of possible australopithecine diets may need to be expanded to include a much more diverse diet.
It can be inferred from the passage that if studies of tooth micro-wear patterns were conducted on modern baboons, which of the following would most likely be true of the results obtained?
选项 A、There would be enough abrasion to allow a determination of whether baboons are frugivorous or insectivorous.
B、The results would suggest that insects constitute the largest part of the baboons’ diet.
C、The results would reveal that there are no significant differences in tooth micro-wear patterns from one regional baboon population to another.
D、The results would provide an accurate indication of the absence of some kinds of insects from the baboons’ diet.
E、The results would be unlikely to provide any indication of what inferences about the australopithecine diet can or cannot be drawn from micro-wear studies.
答案D
解析 Inference
The second paragraph states that modern baboons eat soft-bodied insects but not hard-bodied ones—and it is hard-bodied insects, the passage suggests, that would cause particular micro-wear patterns on teeth. So the patterns on modern baboons’ teeth most likely do not exhibit the patterns indicating hard-bodied insect consumption.
A The passage states that baboons’ consumption of soft-bodied insects would not show up in the patterns on their teeth—so the abrasion would most likely not provide enough information for a determination of whether baboons are frugivorous or insectivorous.
B Since soft-bodied insects do not abrade the teeth significantly, it would be difficult to determine, based on micro-wear patterns, the part such insects play in the baboons’ diet. Furthermore, the passage does not suggest that micro-wear patterns can indicate the quantity of food an animal might have eaten.
C There could be differences in tooth micro-wear patterns from one regional baboon population to another if they consumed anything in addition to soft-bodied insects.
D Correct. Studying tooth micro-wear patterns on baboons’ teeth would most likely show that their teeth do not exhibit patterns typical of creatures that consume hard-bodied insects.
E The passage suggests that based on results from micro-wear patterns on modern baboons’ teeth, one cannot infer from micro-wear studies whether australopithecines ate soft-bodied insects.
The correct answer is D.
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