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Fossil remains of the fern Glossopteris are found in Australia, Antarctica, India, Africa and South America. |
Wegener found fossil evidence that the continents were once joined. The same type of plant and animal fossils are found on continents that are now widely separated. These organisms would not have been able to travel across the oceans. So how did the fossils get so far apart?
Fossils of the seed fern Glossopteris are found across all of the southern continents. These seeds are too heavy to be carried across the ocean by wind. Mesosaurus fossils are found in South America and South Africa. Mesosaurus could swim, but only in fresh water. Cynognathus and Lystrosaurus were reptiles that lived on land. Both of these animals were unable to swim at all. Their fossils have been found across South America, Africa, India, and Antarctica.
Wegener thought that all of these organisms must have lived side by side. The lands later moved apart so that the fossils are separated.
Credit: ck12
Picture Credit : Google
