species vanishing

Hi All,

Five hundred million different species of living creatures have appeared on Earth, nearly 99 percent of them vanishing.

POE:

Choice A: Five hundred million different species of living creatures have appeared on Earth, nearly 99 percent of them vanishing. Incorrect. This sentence is not written in a proper manner to convey the intended meaning properly.

Choice B: Nearly 99 percent of five hundred million different species of living creatures that appeared on Earth have vanished. Incorrect. 1. Placement of “Nearly 99% of” in the beginning of the sentence creates ambiguity for the reference of the relative pronoun “that”. 2. Use of past tense “appeared” is not correct because it denotes that this action is over. We do need present perfect “have appeared” to convey the intended meaning that stands correct in the present context.

Choice C: Vanished are nearly 99 percent of the five hundred million different species of living creatures that appeared on Earth. Incorrect. 1. Same verb tense error as in choice B. 2. The sentence is written in an awkward manner. It’s not direct and clear.

Choice D: Of five hundred million different species of living creatures that have appeared on Earth, nearly 99 percent of them have vanished. Incorrect. Pronoun “them” is not required in the sentence.

Choice E: Of the five hundred million different species of living creatures that have appeared on Earth, nearly 99 percent have vanished. Correct.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha