Command of Evidence SAT question

Choice A is the best answer because it most effectively uses data from the table to support the student’s argument about the role of bufadienolide in the egg preferences of cane toad tadpoles. For each of five amphibian species included in the 2022 study, the table gives the percentage of available eggs that the cane toad tadpoles ate. According to the table, the tadpoles ate 10% of striped burrowing frog eggs and 1% of dainty green tree frog eggs, which suggests a preference for striped burrowing frog eggs over dainty green tree frog eggs. The table also indicates that neither of these species’ eggs produces bufadienolide. Thus, these data suggest that something other than the presence or absence of bufadienolide is needed to adequately explain the tadpoles’ egg preferences.

Choice B is incorrect. Although the table shows that for each of the five amphibian species, the cane toad tadpoles ate less than 100% of that species’ eggs, which demonstrates that the tadpoles did indeed leave some eggs for each species unharmed, this fact alone is irrelevant to the tadpoles’ preferences for some species’ eggs over other species’ eggs. Choice C is incorrect. Although the table indicates that the cane toad tadpoles ate 90% of the cane toad eggs and 7% of the short-footed frog eggs, which suggests that they prefer cane toad eggs over short-footed frog eggs, the table also indicates that cane toad eggs produce bufadienolide, whereas short-footed frog eggs do not. Therefore, these data are not sufficient to exclude that bufadienolide alone could explain the tadpoles’ preference for some species’ eggs over other species’ eggs. Choice D is incorrect. Although the table shows that for both dainty green tree frog eggs and little red tree frog eggs, the cane toad tadpoles ate 1% of those species’ eggs, it also indicates that neither produces bufadienolide. Thus, these data alone don’t indicate bufadienolide’s role in the tadpoles’ egg preferences.