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Ringtail opossums

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Ringtail opossums

by fibbonnaci » Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:10 am
Ringtail opossums are an Australian wildlife species that is potentially endangered. A number of ringtail opossums that had been orphaned and subsequently raised in captivity were monitored after being returned to the wild. Seventy-five percent of these opossums were killed by foxes, a species not native to Australia. Conservationists concluded that the native ringtail opossum population was endangered not by a scarcity of food, as had been previously thought, but by non-native predator species against which the opossum had not developed natural defenses.

Which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports the conservationists' argument?

(A) There are fewer non-native predator species that prey on the ringtail opossum than there are native species that prey on the ringtail opossum.

(B) Foxes, which were introduced into Australia over 200 years ago, adapted to the Australian climate less successfully than did some other foreign species.

(C) The ringtail opossums that were raised in captivity were fed a diet similar to that which ringtail opossums typically eat in the wild.

(D) Few of the species that compete with the ringtail opossum for food sources are native to Australia.

(E) Ringtail opossums that grow to adulthood in the wild defend themselves against foxes no more successfully than do ringtail opossums raised in captivity.
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by gmatmachoman » Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:17 am
Fibo, I was happy seeing ur CR post.
I know u gernerally post less questions compared to answering them.The ones that u felt worth posting are being posted...
Ok coming to answer..

E fits the bill!!
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by gmatmachoman » Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:21 am
I know peopel hate ne when I give IMO's.Ok eventhough I am tired, I shall respond to all...

E basically negates the alternate thought What if the impact of captivity of those Ringtail opossums would have made them timid & coward??

But E says that,Boss anyways the one that has grown in wild or in the captivity are not successful against against wolf...


Side note: seems wolfs are having with those Ringtail opossums ( I have never heard of such creature that becox they are extinct as said by Fibo..Hahhaa)
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by fibbonnaci » Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:25 am
Yup gmatmachoman, u sure know me that i dont post anything without reason. There is a reason behind this post too. will tell you sometime.
Will wait for few more replies and then post the OA along with my famous explanation :P
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by harshavardhanc » Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:27 am
fibbonnaci wrote:Ringtail opossums are an Australian wildlife species that is potentially endangered. A number of ringtail opossums that had been orphaned and subsequently raised in captivity were monitored after being returned to the wild. Seventy-five percent of these opossums were killed by foxes, a species not native to Australia. Conservationists concluded that the native ringtail opossum population was endangered not by a scarcity of food, as had been previously thought, but by non-native predator species against which the opossum had not developed natural defenses.

Which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports the conservationists' argument?

(A) There are fewer non-native predator species that prey on the ringtail opossum than there are native species that prey on the ringtail opossum.

(B) Foxes, which were introduced into Australia over 200 years ago, adapted to the Australian climate less successfully than did some other foreign species.

(C) The ringtail opossums that were raised in captivity were fed a diet similar to that which ringtail opossums typically eat in the wild.

(D) Few of the species that compete with the ringtail opossum for food sources are native to Australia.

(E) Ringtail opossums that grow to adulthood in the wild defend themselves against foxes no more successfully than do ringtail opossums raised in captivity.
I think only E is relevant to the conservationists' conclusion and supports it. It disqualifies the possibility of captivity-bred subjects being less learned at a skill, which helps them fight predators, than ones in the wild.
Regards,
Harsha
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by gmatmachoman » Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:29 am
Hahhaha..that was a quick reply...

We need to build a tool that selects the first reply which gave the right answer some extra points...Justa feel goodie factor..

I will tell to eric now..wat say guys!!

That will be a nice new play...I know we r greedy for points..right frm my college..CGPA sucks!!Yuckieeee!!
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by kstv » Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:02 am
(A) There are fewer non-native predator species that prey on the ringtail opossum than there are native species that prey on the ringtail opossum.
75% of them were killed by foxes. So even if there are more native predators the Opossum had better defenses than they had against the foxes. Hope this is Fibonacci famous reply.

(B) Foxes, which were introduced into Australia over 200 years ago, adapted to the Australian climate less successfully than did some other foreign species.
Not imp. As it is neutral to the argument. Anyway they must be doing pretty well to make other species endangered.

(C) The ringtail opossums that were raised in captivity were fed a diet similar to that which ringtail opossums typically eat in the wild.
If this is true, adaptability to food in the wild was not a issue. Availability still may be ? This does not strengthen the argument.

(D) Few of the species that compete with the ringtail opossum for food sources are native to Australia.
But the opossum were killed not dying of starvation.

(E) Ringtail opossums that grow to adulthood in the wild defend themselves against foxes no more successfully than do ringtail opossums raised in captivity.
The opossums were orphans so they were raised in captivity. Their parents also died at the hand of the foxes.

Classic Q. Hats off.
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by mmslf75 » Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:03 am
E for me too!!

Same reason as gmatmach's!!
@fibo,

What's the OA
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by gmatmachoman » Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:11 am
mmslf75 wrote:E for me too!!

Same reason as gmatmach's!!
@fibo,

What's the OA
Ashsih,bro..alive right?? where r u for so many days?? we were missing u man!!

Wish people for Women's day .
https://www.beatthegmat.com/happy-women- ... 54272.html

Cya!
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by gmatmachoman » Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:14 am
kstv wrote: (E) Ringtail opossums that grow to adulthood in the wild defend themselves against foxes no more successfully than do ringtail opossums raised in captivity.
The opossums were orphans so they were raised in captivity. Their parents also died at the hand of the foxes.

Classic Q. Hats off.
Kstv..OMG OMG..what a funny cool cool reasoning man!!I like that reasoning....Lovely bro!!

Hahhahah..OMG...guys...u will have fun for this nite..Assured..what say Fibo?
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by fibbonnaci » Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:51 am
Well here is the OA.
OA is E.

@kstv- what is ur answer? i tried reading and re reading ur explanation. Though it was damn funny, i could not discern what answer choice u were favoring!!!

Anyways as promised, i will give in my explanations too for this.

Conclusion: decrease in population of opossums is due to non native predators rather than scarcity of food.

Premise: most of the opossums raised in captivity were killed by non native predators.

we are talking about general population by taking into consideration only the captive breed. So we in essence assume that there is no difference in the defence strategies between the captive and wild species.


(A) There are fewer non-native predator species that prey on the ringtail opossum than there are native species that prey on the ringtail opossum. [ This does not address the difference between wild and captive species. Also if there are fewer non native predator species than native ones then why would the conclusion point out to non native species alone? native species forms a huge part too. Eliminated!]

(B) Foxes, which were introduced into Australia over 200 years ago, adapted to the Australian climate less successfully than did some other foreign species. [ now here Foxes are less adapted. so how do we say they affect some other species when they themselves are not well adapted. Eliminated!]

(C) The ringtail opossums that were raised in captivity were fed a diet similar to that which ringtail opossums typically eat in the wild.[the diet may be similiar, but how do we account for the general conclusion made? using captive as our survey sample how can we conclude about something general? Eliminated!]

(D) Few of the species that compete with the ringtail opossum for food sources are native to Australia.[ Let them compete, competition is healthy. but does this bring clarity on our assumption? No. So eliminated!]

(E) Ringtail opossums that grow to adulthood in the wild defend themselves against foxes no more successfully than do ringtail opossums raised in captivity. [ Bingo! this talks about exactly what we are looking at. we talk about the wild breed as well as the captive breed and bring about the similarities in them. My answer!]
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by gmatmachoman » Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:15 am
fibbonnaci wrote:Well here is the OA.
OA is E.

@kstv- what is ur answer? i tried reading and re reading ur explanation. Though it was damn funny, i could not discern what answer choice u were favoring!!!

r!]
Fibo....I know u wuld have had a LOL/Blast after kstv's quote..OMG..what a chanceless reasoning..

I never thought forum will be this much entertaining!!

Cool kstv..really we are very happy after reading that reasoning... !!

Thx fibo for a gud post!!
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by gmatmachoman » Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:17 am
fibbonnaci wrote:Yup gmatmachoman, u sure know me that i dont post anything without reason. There is a reason behind this post too. will tell you sometime.
Will wait for few more replies and then post the OA along with my famous explanation :P
whats the reason?
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by reply2spg » Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:19 am
Passage is really very simple. However, options are nightmare :(. As all of you say I also reach to E
fibbonnaci wrote:Ringtail opossums are an Australian wildlife species that is potentially endangered. A number of ringtail opossums that had been orphaned and subsequently raised in captivity were monitored after being returned to the wild. Seventy-five percent of these opossums were killed by foxes, a species not native to Australia. Conservationists concluded that the native ringtail opossum population was endangered not by a scarcity of food, as had been previously thought, but by non-native predator species against which the opossum had not developed natural defenses.

Which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports the conservationists' argument?

(A) There are fewer non-native predator species that prey on the ringtail opossum than there are native species that prey on the ringtail opossum.

(B) Foxes, which were introduced into Australia over 200 years ago, adapted to the Australian climate less successfully than did some other foreign species.

(C) The ringtail opossums that were raised in captivity were fed a diet similar to that which ringtail opossums typically eat in the wild.

(D) Few of the species that compete with the ringtail opossum for food sources are native to Australia.

(E) Ringtail opossums that grow to adulthood in the wild defend themselves against foxes no more successfully than do ringtail opossums raised in captivity.
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by kstv » Tue Mar 09, 2010 1:44 am
To make it unambigious I choose A.
Conservationists concluded that the native ringtail opossum population was endangered not by a scarcity of food, as had been previously thought, but by non-native predator species against which the opossum had not developed natural defenses.
Conclusion: decrease in population of opossums is due to non native predators rather than scarcity of food.
Premise: most of the opossums raised in captivity were killed by non native predators.
(A) There are fewer non-native predator species that prey on the ringtail opossum than there are native species that prey on the ringtail opossum.
Shows that the 75% decrease in population is due to opossums killed by foxes , non native predators. But option (A) states say there are more native species that prey on opossums. This is possible only if the opossums are more adept at handling the native compared to the non native species. Their mortality at the hands of the non native eg. foxes is more though the native killers who are more in number.
(E) Ringtail opossums that grow to adulthood in the wild defend themselves against foxes no more successfully than do ringtail opossums raised in captivity.
This is rephrasing of the last part of the conclusion - but by non-native predator species against which the opossum had not developed natural defenses and Seventy-five percent of these opossums were killed by foxes.

But this like putting a leg in the door which is already closing as OA is E.
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