Question

Several factors affect an organisms ability to fossilize. The unlikelihood of fossilization results in large gaps in the fossil record. Which would decrease the likelihood that an organism fossilizes?

Answer 1

Complete question:

Several factors affect an organism´s ability to fossilize.  The unlikelihood of fossilization results in large gaps in the fossil record.  Which of the following would decrease the likelihood that an organism fossilizes?

• The organism lower on the food chain
• The organism higher on the food chain
• The organism with a hard body rather than a soft body
• The organism that lived in a marine or aquatic environment

Answer:

The organism higher on the food chain

Explanation:

• The organism lower on the food chain. Their high reproduction rate, as well as their numerous populations, favor them at the moment of fossilizing under different environmental conditions.  

• The organism higher on the food chain. These organisms tend to be predators or bigger animals, characterized by small populations with a reduced number of individuals in comparison with smaller organisms. The fact that their reproductive rate is not very high, that they live longer and hence they are fewer in number, do not favor their fossilizing possibilities under different environmental conditions.

• The organism with a hard body rather than a soft body. Hard tissues always increase the possibilities of fossilizing, as their biological or mechanical destruction is not as easy as the destruction of the soft tissues.  
• The organism that lived in a marine or aquatic environment. It seems that those organisms that live in a sedimentary environment, such as the sea or a lake, or those that live buried or fixed to the bottom, have more possibilities of fossilizing.