题目选项分析

Which of the following most logically completes the reasoning?

When species are extensively hunted, individuals that reach reproductive maturity early make up a larger proportion of the population, because they have a better chance of reproducing. When species face diminished food resources, on the other hand, individuals tend to take longer to reach reproductive maturity. These considerations may help settle whether the primary cause of the gradual disappearance of North America's mastodons, prehistoric animals related to elephants, was diminished food resources or human hunting, since __________.

【选项】from tusks and other bones, it is possible to determine whether male and female mastodons reached reproductive maturity at about the same age