Geologists found fossils of similar marsupials from the same time period across South America, Africa, Antarctica, India and Australia. What theory is supported by this discovery?
A vast land bridge once connected those continents.
Those continents were once a part of one supercontinent.*
The processes happening today are the same processes that have occurred in the past.
Early marsupials were strong swimmers.
Well, isn't that a wild discovery! Looks like these marsupials were quite the global travelers. But you know what they say, "It's a small world after all!" So, the most plausible theory supported by this discovery is that those continents were once a part of one supercontinent. I guess these marsupials just couldn't resist taking a world tour!
The theory supported by the discovery of similar marsupial fossils across South America, Africa, Antarctica, India, and Australia is that those continents were once a part of one supercontinent.*
The theory supported by the discovery of similar marsupial fossils from the same time period across multiple continents is that those continents were once a part of one supercontinent. This theory suggests that at some point in the Earth's history, these continents were joined together as a single landmass, and over time, they gradually separated and moved to their current positions. This process is known as continental drift or plate tectonics.
To arrive at this theory, geologists would have examined the distribution of these fossils across various continents and compared their similarities and ages. They would have considered other geological evidence, such as the matching rock formations, mountain ranges, and the alignment of geological structures on different continents. Additionally, they would have looked at the patterns of geological activity, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, which also provide clues about plate movements.
By analyzing all these pieces of evidence, scientists can infer that continents were once interconnected and have since drifted apart, which supports the theory of plate tectonics. This discovery also aligns with the broader understanding that Earth's surface is composed of several shifting tectonic plates, and the processes that shape the planet today, such as the formation of mountains and the opening of oceans, have also occurred in the past.