Unlike the African elephant, whose trunk contains two fingers used to

I think OA should be B instead of E because in option E, the "hence" seems to refer to the African Elephant and not the Asian Elephant thereby changing the meaning of the sentence.
Please correct me if wrong.

What is wrong with option B?
I think i obeys all the rules
What is the point of diff between B and E?
Pls help

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Hi Akshi123, B is (what's called) a run-on sentence: two independent clauses connected by just a comma.

Following are the two independent clauses in B:
i) the Asian elephant’s trunk has only one finger
ii) thus the Asian elephant cannot grab food as precisely as its African counterpart.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses run-on sentence, its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

A) Unlike the African elephant, whose trunk contains two fingers used to grasp and eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark, the Asian elephant’s trunk has only one finger, so it
Comparison is between African Elephant and Asian Elephant's Trunk. Eliminate A.

B)Unlike the African elephant’s trunk, which contains two fingers used to grasp and eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark, the Asian elephant’s trunk has only one finger, thus the Asian elephant
Here the first part says that the African Elephant's trunk CONTAINS two fingers. The second part says that the Asian elephant HAS one finger. Contains is wrong and not parallel with other part. Eliminate B.

C)Compared to that of the African elephant, which has two fingers used by them to grasp and eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark, the trunk of the Asian elephant has only one finger, and
Here the AND at the end does not convey the meaning.

D)Dissimilar to the African elephant, which has a trunk with two fingers that are used to grasp and eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark, the Asian elephant has a one-fingered trunk,
Here the part after the last "," does not make sense

E)The African elephant, which has a trunk with two fingers used to grasp and eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark, is unlike the Asian elephant, which has a trunk with only one finger and hence
E looks Good. Little wordy sentence but that skips our attention.

Correct answer is E

Here are couple of more examples where you need "and" before "thus"

In the aftermath of the inconclusive battle, Lee suspected that the right flank of McClellan's army was "in the air" — not anchored to any natural formation, and thus vulnerable to attack.

A committee of Caribbean nations realized the local governments could not provide the support that Grenada needed in its aftermath, and thus turned to international assistance.

experts need help between B and E

I agree with the explanation given for B,but even E is not totally correct. We should have a comma before " and hence"

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Hi Experts,

Requesting you to weigh in on this. So, I went for Option- E for two reasons. Firstly, it keeps the structure of the original structure intact, and secondly, because the comparison is parallel. However, it is apparent that majority of the people went for Option-B, though i was a little confused too, I eliminated it because it shifts the focus from elephant to the trunk. I wonder if my approach is right. Can you please confirm? Thank

Hello Purvidebuka,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, there is nothing wrong with the focus or structure of Option B; the error in Option B is that it uses the conjunction "thus" to join two independent clauses, but "thus" is not a conjunction that can join such clauses, even when preceded by a comma.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

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