Which event is most likely if an index fossil is found in a layer at location 1, but the layer and index fossil are not found at location 2 nearby, which is known to be the same relative age?

An index fossil can help identify rocks of the same relative age, but the organism may not have lived everywhere at that time. Since the locations are nearby and the layers are the same relative age, the organism may simply not have existed at location 2. The layer there is not necessarily older or too old to contain fossils.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.