Micro-wear patterns found on the teeth of longextinct 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 microwear 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.
The author of the passage mentions the diets of baboons and other living primates most likely in order to
provide evidence that refutes Walker's conclusions about the foods making up the diets of australopithecines
suggest that studies of tooth micro-wear patterns are primarily useful for determining the diets of living primates
suggest that australopithecines were probably omnivores rather than frugivores
illustrate some of the limitations of using tooth micro-wear patterns to draw definitive conclusions about a group's diet
suggest that tooth micro-wear patterns are caused by persistent, as opposed to occasional, consumption of particular foods
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正确答案是 D。从文章的内容可以看出,作者提到现代灵长类动物的饮食主要是为了说明利用牙齿微磨痕来得出有关特定群体饮食的结论存在一些局限性。文中提到,现代狒狒只吃软体昆虫,而不是硬壳昆虫,因此口腔微磨痕不会产生太大的磨损;另外,当前杂食性灵长类动物根据所处环境而饮食也会有很大差异,所以如果南方古猿也是杂食动物,我们可能会发现它们牙齿的微磨痕存在很大的变异。因此,可以推断出作者在提到现代灵长类动物的饮食的目的是为了说明利用牙齿微磨痕来得出有关特定群体饮食的结论存在一些局限性,故选D。
提出一个假设,然后例证,这个例证也是某个人的观点。
第二段,转折,指出第一段中的那个观点不对。举例证明。
写文章的目的就是为了证明W的观点有问题:(二段句首)suggests that micro-wear studies may have limited utility in determining the foods that are actually eaten.
哇,这是对的第一道题
啊 这题错的太不仔细了。
先看题目,说的是这两个东西起什么作用,回原文找到最后一段里有,发现这句话开头是e.g 那么看前边一句话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.