Passage Summary: Because the fossil and rock records show meteors without extinctions and extinctions without meteors, the author concludes the two events aren't consistently linked.

Conclusion: The geological record indicates that there is no consistent causal connection between major meteor impacts and mass extinctions.

Reasoning: The record shows instances of extinctions occurring without preceding impacts and impacts occurring without subsequent extinctions.

Analysis: The argument relies on the geological record being a perfect, gapless diary of Earth's history. However, if the record is incomplete, the 'missing' links might just be missing from the data, not from reality. To make this conclusion follow logically, we need an assumption that bridges the gap between what the record shows and what actually happened. Look for an answer that guarantees the geological record is an accurate and representative sample of these events.