Question

crocodilaemus was an ancient animal that lived in the sea about 150,000,000 years ago. here are pictures of a crocodilaemus fossil, a living nile crocodile, and a living bottlenose dolphin.

pictures of crocodilaemus, nile crocodile, bottlenose dolphin

which traits can you observe in the fossil of crocodilaemus, the living nile crocodile, and the living bottlenose dolphin? complete the table.

	crocodilaemus	nile crocodile	bottlenose dolphin
bony plates on its back	✔️	✔️
a long, pointed snout	✔️	✔️	✔️
front and back legs	✔️	✔️
front flippers	✔️		✔️

based on the table, which living animal shares more traits with crocodilaemus?

nile crocodile bottlenose dolphin

Explanation:

Step1: Count traits for Nile crocodile

Check each row for Nile crocodile: Bony plates (✓), Long snout (✓), Front/back legs (✓). Tail fin (×), Front flippers (×). Total: 3 traits.

Step2: Count traits for Bottlenose dolphin

Check each row for Bottlenose dolphin: Tail fin (✓), Long snout (✓), Front flippers (✓). Bony plates (×), Front/back legs (×). Total: 3? Wait, no—wait Crocodilaemus traits: Tail fin (×), Bony (✓), Long snout (✓), Front/back legs (✓), Front flippers (✓). Wait, no, let's re - evaluate. Wait, the table is about which traits each has. For Crocodilaemus: Bony plates (✓), Long snout (✓), Front/back legs (✓), Front flippers (✓), Tail fin (×). For Nile crocodile: Bony plates (✓), Long snout (✓), Front/back legs (✓), Tail fin (×), Front flippers (×). So matching traits: Bony plates, Long snout, Front/back legs → 3. For Bottlenose dolphin: Long snout (✓), Tail fin (✓), Front flippers (✓). Bony plates (×), Front/back legs (×). So matching with Crocodilaemus: Long snout (✓), Front flippers (✓) → 2. Wait, no, maybe I messed up. Wait the question is which living animal (Nile croc or dolphin) shares more traits with Crocodilaemus. Let's list Crocodilaemus' traits (checked): Bony plates, Long snout, Front/back legs, Front flippers. Nile crocodile: Bony plates (✓), Long snout (✓), Front/back legs (✓), Front flippers (×), Tail fin (×). So 3 matches. Bottlenose dolphin: Long snout (✓), Front flippers (✓), Tail fin (✓), Bony plates (×), Front/back legs (×). So 2 matches. So Nile crocodile has more matches.

Answer:

Nile crocodile