Geologists and paleontologists used evidence such as the present-day locations of Glossopteris fossils (indicated in YELLOW) to piece together the position of the continents in the past.
Let’s see what happens when we go back in time.
During this time, 255 million years ago, Glossopteris was found all over a large supercontinent called Gondwanaland.
When this supercontinent split apart into separate land masses (continents), the plants were simply carried along with the land.
Eventually the continents moved futher apart to their present locations.
CLICK the start button again to see how Gondwanaland split apart.
Other fossils show the same pattern of distribution as Glossopteris.
The best explanation for this distribution is that the continents were once joined together.
