Which finding about the Cairo site, if true, would most directly supp… | Verbal SAT Question

Based on findings from fossil sites, paleobotanists had developed the so-called partition hypothesis, which holds that there were two distinctly different kinds of biomes during the Devonian period (circa 360 to 420 million years ago). One was a tropical deltaic forest biome home to plants such as the fernlike Eospermatopteris, and the other was an arid floodplain forest biome home to plants such as the coniferlike Archaeopteris. Recently, however, evolutionary ecologist Khudadad examined the remnants of a Devonian forest in what is now Cairo, New York, and concluded that evidence from the Cairo site is inconsistent with the partition hypothesis.

Which finding about the Cairo site, if true, would most directly support Khudadad’s conclusion?

Although the site appears to have been a tropical deltaic forest during the Devonian period, fossil evidence suggests that Eospermatopteris was present at that time.

The site appears to have been a tropical deltaic forest early in the Devonian period but transitioned to an arid floodplain forest after the end of the Devonian period.

The site appears to have been an arid floodplain forest during the Devonian period and contains fossil evidence of contemporaneous Eospermatopteris and Archaeopteris.

Fossil evidence from the site suggests that several forest plant species other than Eospermatopteris and Archaeopteris lived there during the Devonian period.