Fossils of thumb-length primates that they had recovered from the

In what cases, which cannot be used? What's wrong with option D?

Fossils of thumb-length primates that they had recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represents the smallest known primates, with one species estimated to have weighed only 10 grams.

A. primates, that they had recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represents the smallest known primates- no need of past perfect as there is no sequence

B. primates that were recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, are the smallest known primates- Meaning error: they represent smallest primates

C. primates, recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represent the smallest known primates

D. primates which were recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represent the smallest known primates- No comma before which

E. primates, recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily representing the smallest known primates- Fragment

The problem with D is "... primates which were recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry ..."

This long phrase suggests that the PRIMATES were recovered from the quarry, when of course it was the FOSSILS that were discovered

"WHICH" almost always refers to the noun that is just before it, and you can expect to see a comma before the "WHICH"

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A. primates, that they had recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represents the smallest known primates - 'Fossils' is the plural subject and verb 'represents' is not in agreement with the subject.

B. primates that were recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, are the smallest known primates - Fossils themselves are the primates? Does not make any sense.

C. primates, recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represent the smallest known primates - Correct Choice.

D. primates which were recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represent the smallest known primates - Which modifies the immediate preceding Noun which is Primates in this case. Recovery of primates does not make any sense.

E. primates, recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily representing the smallest known primates - Main verb is absent in the sentence. its fragment.

Fossils of thumb-length primates that they had recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represents the smallest known primates, with one species estimated to have weighed only 10 grams.

Option Elimination -

A. primates, that they had recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represents the smallest known primates - no antecedent of "they." "that" acts as a relative pronoun modifying "primates," meaning "primates," which means "mammals" that had recovered from the sediments. We can't recover "live mammals" in the thousands of years old sediments, but we can recover their "fossils." Moreover, the subject is "fossils," which is plural, and the verb is singular, "represents." SV issues.

B. primates that were recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, are the smallest known primates - the same relative pronoun issue and wrong meaning. Moreover, "Fossils are the primates" is wrong. Fossils can't be mammals. Fossils can be of mammals.

C. primates, recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represent the smallest known primates - ok

D. primates which were recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represent the smallest known primates - "which" refers to "primates," creating the same meaning issue as in A

E. primates, recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily representing the smallest known primates - No verb.

Fossils of thumb-length primates, recovered from the fissure-filled sediments of a limestone quarry in China in 1996, easily represent the smallest known primates, with one species estimated to have weighed only 10 grams.

Answer must be (C), for the highlighted errors in other options....