Sentence Correction

Hello Guru,
I read you mentioning in several posts that comma verbed refers to the immediately preceded noun.
If that rule is something to go by then D renders that choice distorted.
Can you help how to handle the situation like this one. Best

Fossils of the arm of a sloth found in Puerto Rico in 1991, and dated at 34 million years old, made it the earliest known mammal of the Greater Antilles islands.

A. sloth found in Puerto Rico in 1991, and dated at 34 million years old, made it the earliest known mammal of
B. sloth, that they found in Puerto Rico in 1991, has been dated at 34 million years old, thus making it the earliest mammal known on
C. sloth that was found in Puerto Rico in 1991, was dated at 34 million years old, making this the earliest known mammal of
D. sloth, found in Puerto Rico in 1991, have been dated at 34 million years old, making the sloth the earliest known mammal on
E. sloth which, found in Puerto Rico in 1991, was dated at 34 million years old, made the sloth the earliest known mammal of

Ans is D

aflaam wrote:Hello Guru,
I read you mentioning in several posts that comma verbed refers to the immediately preceded noun.
If that rule is something to go by then D renders that choice distorted.
Can you help how to handle the situation like this one. Best

I typically phrase this rule as follows:
Generally, COMMA + VERBed serves to refer to the nearest preceding noun.
The purpose of the modifier in red is to convey that there are likely to be exceptions to this rule (just as there are likely to be exceptions to ANY rule).
OA: Fossils of the arm of a sloth, found in Puerto Rico in 1991, have been dated at 34 million years old.
Here, it is crystal clear from context that COMMA + found serves to refer to the entire preceding noun phrase in blue, conveying that FOSSILS were FOUND in Puerto Rico in 1991.