Hi Asid! Thanks so much for your question
This question stem is actually Resolve the Paradox, where it asks us to explain how the newborn dunnarts can survive despite their thin skin. The way to identify these questions is that the question stem will indicate that you must resolve a problem.
For Resolve the Paradox questions, we want to find the answer choice that explains how two seemingly contradictory facts can co-exist. The correct answer choice will contain an active resolution, show how the situation arose, and address the facts of the stimulus. There are several types of incorrect answers, including ones that explain only one side of the paradox, ones that misstate the facts, and ones that use similarities to explain a difference and differences to explain a similarity.
In the stimulus, we are presented with two seemingly contradictory facts: newborn dunnarts breathe through their thin skin since they cannot use their respiratory muscles, yet other warm-blooded animals need thick skin even as newborns to maintain body temperature and reduce water loss. The correct answer choice will explain how it is possible for newborn dunnarts to have thin skin to breathe while still maintaining body temperature and reducing water loss.
Answer choice (D) provides us with a possible explanation and is therefore the correct answer choice. If the mother's pouch keeps the newborn dunnart warm and reduces water loss, then it is possible for the newborn dunnart to still have thin skin while maintaining body temperature and reducing water loss. Notice that this answer choice actively resolves the paradox presented in the stimulus while staying true to the facts presented in the stimulus.
Answer choice (A) is incorrect because it does not explain how the dunnart can have thin skin at birth and still maintain its body temperature and reduce water loss.
Answer choice (B) is incorrect because it discusses the body temperature of the dunnart at any given time, but we want to know how the dunnart
maintains its body temperature.
Answer choice (C) is incorrect because it discusses adult dunnarts, but the stimulus presents us with a paradox about newborn dunnarts.
Answer choice (E) is incorrect because it only tells us about some dunnarts, and we need to know how
all newborn dunnarts can have thick skin. Additionally, daytime temperatures being high does not mean that the dunnart can then maintain its body temperature.
To sum up, this question is a Resolve the Paradox, so the correct answer choice will actively explain how two seemingly contradictory facts can co-exist. Answer choice (D) does this, so it is the correct answer.
I hope this helps, and let me know if you have any further questions!
