In paleontology, the term 'Elvis taxon' gets applied to a newly identified living species that was once presumed to be...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• In paleontology,
  • the term 'Elvis taxon'
    • gets applied to a newly identified living species
      • that was once presumed to be extinct.
• Like an Elvis impersonator
  • who might bear a striking resemblance
    • to the late musical icon Elvis Presley himself,
  • an Elvis taxon
    • is not the real thing,
    • [however ?] is a misidentified look-alike.
• Blank varies: [however but it / however it / however, it / however. It]

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start from the beginning to understand the context:

• 'In paleontology, the term 'Elvis taxon' gets applied to a newly identified living species that was once presumed to be extinct.'
  • So an 'Elvis taxon' is a species we thought was extinct, but then we found it's actually still alive.

Now the sentence gives us an analogy:

• 'Like an Elvis impersonator who might bear a striking resemblance to the late musical icon Elvis Presley himself,'
  • This sets up a comparison - just like an Elvis impersonator looks like Elvis but isn't actually Elvis...
• 'an Elvis taxon is not the real thing,'
  • ...an Elvis taxon looks like an extinct species but isn't actually that extinct species.

This is a complete thought: "an Elvis taxon is not the real thing."

Now we reach the blank. Let's look at our choices:

• All have "however"
• A: "however but it"
• B: "however it" (no punctuation after "however")
• C: "however, it" (comma after "however")
• D: "however. It" (period after "however," capital "It")

To see what works here, let's understand what the rest is telling us!

The sentence continues with: 'is a misidentified look-alike.'

Let's think about the structure here:

• The part before the blank: 'an Elvis taxon is not the real thing'
  • Subject: "an Elvis taxon"
  • Verb: "is"
  • This is a complete thought - it could stand alone as a sentence ✓

• The part after the blank: 'is a misidentified look-alike'
  • This needs a subject
  • From the choices, "it" would be the subject (referring back to "an Elvis taxon")
  • So: "it is a misidentified look-alike"
  • This is also a complete thought - it could stand alone as a sentence ✓

What do we notice about the structure here?

• We have TWO complete thoughts (independent clauses):
  1. "an Elvis taxon is not the real thing"
  2. "it is a misidentified look-alike"

• The word "however" shows contrast between these thoughts
  • It's not the real thing... HOWEVER... it's a look-alike

• But "however" is a transitional word, not a connecting word like "and" or "but"

• Important rule: You cannot connect two complete thoughts with just a comma
  • That creates a comma splice (a type of run-on sentence)

• Since we already have a comma before the blank, choices B and C would create comma splices

So we need Choice D: "however. It"

• This places "however" at the end of the first sentence: "an Elvis taxon is not the real thing, however."
• Then it starts a new sentence: "It is a misidentified look-alike."
• The period properly separates the two complete thoughts, and "It" is correctly capitalized to start the new sentence.

The correct answer is D.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Avoiding Comma Splices: Connecting Complete Thoughts with Transitional Words

When you have two complete thoughts (independent clauses), you cannot connect them with only a comma. This creates a comma splice, which is a type of run-on sentence.

Words like "however," "therefore," "moreover," and "nevertheless" are transitional words (called conjunctive adverbs in grammar terms), NOT coordinating conjunctions like "and," "but," or "or." They show relationships between ideas but cannot connect independent clauses with just a comma.

To properly use transitional words between two complete thoughts, you have three options:

Option 1: Semicolon before the transitional word

• Wrong: "The experiment failed, however, we learned valuable lessons."
• Right: "The experiment failed; however, we learned valuable lessons."

Option 2: Make them two separate sentences

• Wrong: "She studied all night, therefore, she passed the exam."
• Right: "She studied all night. Therefore, she passed the exam."

Option 3: Place the transitional word at the end of the first sentence

• Wrong: "I don't agree with the policy, however, I'll follow it."
• Right: "I don't agree with the policy, however. I'll follow it."

In this question:

• Two complete thoughts: "an Elvis taxon is not the real thing" + "it is a misidentified look-alike"
• The correct answer uses Option 3: places "however" at the end of the first sentence with a period after it
• Result: "an Elvis taxon is not the real thing, however. It is a misidentified look-alike."