Name _____________________________________________________ Date __________ Class period _____
Wegener’s Fossil Safari
Introduction
You are going on a worldwide expedition to find fossils of extinct organisms. From the evidence you
find, you hope to obtain a picture of what life on Earth was like 250 million years ago. You know
that the super continent Pangaea started to split apart about 200 million years ago. As the
continents drifted away from each other, they took their fossils with them.
Materials Needed
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Scissors
Glue stick
Fossil Safari Map
Fossil cut-outs
Notes on Wegener’s Evidence
Procedures
1. Color each group of fossil cutouts (both large square and small circles) according to the following
key.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
Key
Glossopteris
Kannemeyerid
Labyrinthodont
Lystrosaurus
Cynognathus
Theocodont
Mesosaurus
Green
Yellow
Purple
Orange
Red
Blue
Brown
2. Trim away excess paper.
3. With your glue stick, attach the small circle cutouts to the Fossil Safari Map square that
corresponds to their color and letter. Glue the large square cutouts on the back of the fossil
safari map.
4. Glue the large square fossils to the back of your map. Next to each one re-write the fossils
name, and then list every lithospheric plate that the fossil was found on. Oh, and geologists
consider Europe and Asia to be one lithospheric plate and India to be another, separate,
lithospheric plate.
Analysis and Conclusions
1. How many continents did you find fossils of Glossopteris (A) on? ________
2. What fossils do South America and Africa have in common?
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3. What does your “Safari” suggest about India and Antarctica?
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4. Were North America and Australia next to each other when they were both part of Pangaea?
Explain your answer.
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5. How would you explain why you find similar fossils on different continents?
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6. Why is Glossopteris, a fern, such powerful piece of evidence for the existence of Pangea?
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7. What other evidence, besides fossils, did Wegener find to support his idea of continental drift?
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8. Despite all the evidence that Wegener collected his proposed theory of continental drift was
note accepted by his peers why?
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