Respuesta :
Answer: The scientist’s conclusion is not necessarily accurate. The age of a fossil cannot be determined solely by the age of the rock layer it was found in. Although the presence of certain fossils can be used to estimate the age of a rock layer, the reverse is not true. The age of a rock layer can only be estimated by the age of the fossils it contains if the fossils are known to have existed during a specific time period. The presence of a graptolite and ammonite in the same rock layer as the unknown fossil does not provide enough information to accurately determine the age of the unknown fossil 12.
In addition, the age range of 320 to 245 million years ago is quite broad. It is possible that the unknown fossil existed outside of this range, making the scientist’s conclusion even less reliable 1.
It is important to use multiple methods to determine the age of a fossil, such as radiometric dating, which measures the decay of radioactive isotopes in the fossil, or relative dating, which compares the age of the fossil to the age of other fossils in the same rock layer 13.
