Digital SAT Reading and Writing Practice Question #392

Text 1 The Cambrian Explosion, a period of rapid evolutionary diversification approximately 541 million years ago, was primarily catalyzed by a sudden, massive increase in atmospheric oxygen. This spike in oxygen was biologically revolutionary; it finally allowed for the high metabolic rates required to support complex, multicellular body plans, effectively lifting the physiological constraints that had kept marine life small and relatively simple for billions of years. Text 2 While no one disputes that complex life requires oxygen, attributing the Cambrian Explosion solely to atmospheric changes ignores the complex ecological web of the era. Recent geochemical modeling demonstrates that oceanic oxygen levels had already reached the thresholds necessary to support complex animals tens of millions of years prior to the Cambrian period. Instead, the true driver of the explosion was ecological: the evolution of early sight and mobility initiated an intense predator-prey evolutionary arms race, forcing rapid morphological innovation. Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the primary claim made in Text 1?