Suppose that two ancient types of plants, one that grows in the winter and one that grows in the summer, appear together in the fossil record for two periods in the geologic time scale. In the fossil records from a third period in the geologic time scale, one of the plants is suddenly missing. Which of the following would best explain why one type of plant disappeared but the other did not?
A. climate change
B. pollution
C. hunting
D. volcanic eruption