The fossil that occurs on the most landmasses in the classic continental-drift evidence set is Glossopteris , a seed-fern plant whose remains are found in South America, Africa, India, Antarctica, and Australia. This wide distribution strongly suggests that these southern continents were once joined together into a single large landmass (Gondwana/Pangaea) and only later drifted apart, carrying identical fossil floras with them.

Key fossil: Glossopteris

  • Glossopteris was a woody, seed-bearing plant that lived mainly during the Permian period.
  • Its fossils appear in matching-age rock layers across multiple southern continents, far too widely separated today for its heavy seeds to have crossed oceans.

What this suggests about breakup

  • Because the same Glossopteris species is preserved on these now-distant continents, those landmasses must have been connected when the plants were alive, forming a continuous habitat.
  • The breakup of these particular continents therefore occurred after Glossopteris had spread across the unified landmass, meaning the continental separation happened later than the time when these fossils were deposited.

Why this is strong evidence

  • Similar fossils in the same-aged rocks on different continents mean the regions once shared similar climates, environments, and positions, supporting the idea of a joined supercontinent.
  • The alignment of Glossopteris fossils complements other geological clues (like matching mountain belts), all pointing to a common origin of these landmasses before they slowly moved apart.

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