Which of the following statements about techniques used in dating fossil remains is NOT true?
A. The potassium-argon technique is used to date inorganic substances such as rock.
B. Carbon-14 techniques are used to date organic material.
C. Potassium-argon dating is most accurate on specimens over 500,000 years old.
D. Carbon-14 dating is most accurate on specimens more than 70,000 years old.
E. Electron spin resonance is used to date rocks and minerals between 1,000 and 1,000,000 years old.
Question 2
Paleoanthropologist Christopher Stringer once noted that absence of evidence does not necessarily prove evidence of absence. Why is this important to keep in mind when assessing the use of fossils to study the past?
A. Taphonomy is not a true science, because it lacks accuracy.
B. The fields of paleontology and paleoanthropology have established a chronology of the evolution of life.
C. The failure to find a fossil species in a particular place does not necessarily mean that it did not live there.
D. Paleontology and paleoanthropology are humanistic disciplines.
E. The fossil record is a complete sample of all the plants and animals that ever lived.
Cruziana, fossil trilobite furrowing trace
Skeletal remains from the Sima de los Huesos, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain.
Biological anthropologists map skeletal remains from a prehistoric site.
Anterosuperior view of true pelvis (blue)
Fossil hominins