zaarathelab wrote:Recently discovered fossil remains strongly suggest that the Australian egg-laying mammals of today are a branch of the main stem of mammalian evolution rather than developing independently from a common
ancestor of mammals more than 220 million years ago.
(A) rather than developing independently from
(B) rather than a type that developed independently from
(C) rather than a type whose development was independent of
(D) instead of developing independently from
(E) instead of a development that was independent of

What is the difference b/w 'independently of' and 'independently from'?

we need to use rather than to show preference for one over the other. so D,E can be crossed out.
In A issue with parallelism. "a branch" is not parallel to "developing independently".
Between B & C, I will choose B. because it is using verb developed instead of noun development(if two choices have no grammatical issues then it is always preferable to go with verb form) and also independently is modifying developed which is proper.

[spoiler]is it B?[/spoiler]

Thanks
user123321

What we are comparing to is important here. We are not comparing the development of two types of mammals. Australian egg-laying mammals` type is being compared. Hence between B and C,

C - X's development is independent of Y means that X grew up not depending on Y
B - independently from - Correctly conveys the author's intention

IMO-B;

Developed (independently ) from -- Here 'independently' is adverb;
so, read as developed from common branch ->

independent of X; here 'independent' is a noun --> not dependent on/separate from

Help needed on this one. What is the OA?

Thanks.

a I think, no need to use a type...

zaarathelab wrote:Recently discovered fossil remains strongly suggest that the Australian egg-laying mammals of today are a branch of the main stem of mammalian evolution rather than developing independently from a common
ancestor of mammals more than 220 million years ago.
(A) rather than developing independently from
(B) rather than a type that developed independently from
(C) rather than a type whose development was independent of
(D) instead of developing independently from
(E) instead of a development that was independent of

What is the difference b/w 'independently of' and 'independently from'?

A sentence that makes a comparison must compare APPLES to APPLES. In A and D, a branch cannot be compared to developing. Eliminate A and D.

In C and E, independent of typically means irrespective of or regardless of. It doesn't make sense to say a DEVELOPMENT regardless of a COMMON ANCESTOR. Eliminate C and E.

The correct answer is B.

In B, a type that developed INDEPENDENTLY FROM a common ancestor means a type that developed ON ITS OWN, without DEPENDING on the common ancestor.

A useful tip:
VERBS often are preferable to NOUNS. Be skeptical of answer choices that change a verb into a noun.
If we're debating between B and C, we should note that B uses a VERB (develop), while C uses a NOUN derived from this verb (development).
Unless there is a grammatical or semantic justification for using the noun, we should select B, the answer choice with the verb. It is more likely to be correct.