Passage Summary: We found a ton of adult dire wolf bones in tar pits but no baby bones, so we are assuming the babies weren't hanging out with the adults when they got stuck.

Conclusion: Dire wolf pups under six months old likely did not join adults during hunting or scavenging activities.

Reasoning: While thousands of adult dire wolf fossils were found in tar pits, no fossils of pups younger than six months were discovered in those same pits.

Analysis: The argument relies on a significant gap: it assumes that if the pups had been present, they would have been preserved in the tar pits just like the adults. To find a necessary assumption, we must identify what the argument *needs* to be true for the evidence to lead to the conclusion. If the pups' bones were too small to be preserved, or if the pups were light enough to walk across the tar without getting stuck, the lack of fossils wouldn't prove they weren't there. Look for an answer that ensures the tar pits were capable of trapping and preserving pups if they had been present.