Question

specific conditions must be met for a plant or animal to fossilize. for example, animals with soft tissues (like jellyfish or worms)… this is because soft tissues were rarely preserved, but hard tissues, like bones and shells, fossilized much more frequently. also, while fossils can form in a number of ways, most are formed when a plant or animal dies in a watery environment and is buried in mud and silt. plants and water creatures are thus more often fossilized than land creatures.

which factor likely contributed most to limiting the number of fossils of land creatures?

1. most land creatures were almost entirely made up of softer tissues that decayed too quickly to fossilize.
2. plants and water creatures fossilized in the most common way, while land creatures fossilized in other ways.
3. most land creatures probably died away from watery environments where they would be covered in silt.

Explanation:

The text says fossils form when an organism dies in a watery environment and is buried in mud/silt. Land creatures dying away from such environments (so not covered in silt/mud) would limit their fossilization, matching option 3. Option 1's "almost entirely soft" isn't supported (text says soft tissues rarely fossilize, not that land creatures were almost all soft). Option 2's "other ways" contradicts the text's focus on watery burial.

Answer:

1. Most land creatures probably died away from watery environments where they would be covered in silt.