A group of paleontologists recently announced that a site in Utah has yielded fossils of some of the biggest armored dinosaurs ever found,
and that they were at least 25 million years older than any similar dinosaur type previously found in North America.
Quote:
(A) and that they were at least 25 million years older than any similar dinosaur type previously
Here we have a proper construction with two "that", each of which states two facts announced by a group of paleontologists:
A group of paleontologists recently announced that a site ... and than they ...
What's wrong in A is the
comparison: "they" clearly refer to "fossils" and then, "fossils" compared to "any similar dinosaur type" - this fact makes A clearly wrong: such comparison is non-sensical.
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(B) and they are at least 25 million years older than those of any similar dinosaur type that previously was
Option B misses the second "that", which works well in A: we need two "that" to maintain
//-ism and express grammatically correct what are two facts presented by a group of paleontologists.
Another issue with option B is "was" at the end, whose pair is "those" (="fossils"), a plural noun.
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(C) and the fossils are at least 25 million years older than any similar dinosaur types that previously were
Same issue with
//-ism as in B; same issue with
comparison (fossils vs dinosaur types) as in A.
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(D) fossils that are at least 25 million years older than those of any similar dinosaur type previously
Correct choice. There are no longer two facts announced by a group of paleontologists. Instead, an absolute phrase is used (the phrase that is often used in correct answer choices). Also, there is no "they" anymore, which is also a good sign that the option might appear correct one.
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(E) fossils at least 25 million years older than similar dinosaur types previously
Same
comparison issue as in A and C: fossils vs dinosaur types