Evidence:
Fossils Matching
Across the Seas
Although the seed for Wegener’s hypothesis came
from the remarkable similarities of the continental
margins on opposite sides of the Atlantic, it was when
he learned that identical fossil organisms had been discovered
in rocks from both South America and Africa
that his pursuit of continental drift became more focused.
Through a review of the literature, Wegener learned that
most paleontologists (scientists who study the fossilized
remains of ancient organisms) were in agreement that
some type of land connection was needed to explain the
existence of similar Mesozoic age life-forms on widely
separated landmasses. Just as modern life-forms native to
North America are quite different from those of Africa and
Australia, during the Mesozoic era, organisms on widely
separated continents should have been distinctly different