▶ Your Answer :
In
the reading passage, there is ample support for the author’s claim
that the crests of Lambeosaurus were utilized in a diversity of ways
such as courtship, fight, and respiration. However, the professor in
the lecture gives several reasons as a rebuttal to the author’s
point.
First,
the professor contends that the crests could not be used to express
its attraction points to potential mates. Studies have shown that
most reptiles try to attract mates by their behaviors and sounds. For
instance, crocodiles purport to find their mates by raising their
head into the air and making large noises. It is widely believed that
Lambeosaurus, which is also a reptile, may have taken advantage of
similar methods for courtship. This casts doubt on the reading
passage’s claim that the crests must have been a helpful tool for
them to show attractiveness in that a lot of fossil data demonstrate
that their shape was highly dependent on sex and age.
Next,
the professor insists that it is hard to believe that crests were
used to fight with others. According to the study, they were extended
backward, so one could not make use of it for combat. Furthermore,
they were hollow, so easy to be destroyed when they collide with
other hard structures. This refutes the reading passage’s assertion
that crests must have served as helmets to protect themselves and
weapons to attack others as the horns of Triceratops did.
Finally,
the professor argues that an idea that the crests were to provide
Lambeosaurus with air when its head was under water cannot be true.
Since Lambeosaurus was hefty, a lot of oxygen must have been vital
for it to stay underwater for a long time. Since the crests were too
small, a sufficient amount of air was unable to be stored in them.
Therefore, there is no way for Lambeosaurus to keep its head
underwater for more than few seconds with the help of the crests.
This counters the reading passage’s suggestion that the crests
which connect the lungs of Lambeosaurus with its airways allowed it
to continue its respiration when it is under water to have meals. |