Mesosaurus and separated continents

Early Permian Mesosaurus fossils occur in present-day South America and southern Africa. Their distribution, alongside rock and paleomagnetic evidence, supports a former continental connection. It does not imply swimming across today’s Atlantic or surviving until the ocean opened. Habitat salinity is studied, so exclusive freshwater life is not assumed. The globe models continental arrangement, not every fossil locality.

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CO₂280ppm
Temp14.3°C
Sea0m
O₂21%

Annual surface temperature from CESM (T): a model estimate, not a direct observation of the past.

0 Ma: pre-industrial climate/CO₂; modern sea-level and O₂ references.

Data references
CenCO2PIP Consortium vetted productMiller et al. (2020), smoothed Cenozoic sea level relative to modernMills et al. (2023), Evolution of Atmospheric O₂ Through the Phanerozoic, Revisited, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 51:253–276Li et al. (2022), CESM surface temperature
Sources & methods

Glacial-interglacial cycles with 120m+ sea level swings. Homo sapiens spread from Africa across the globe, and most megafauna went extinct.

Key Life
🧑Homo sapiens🦣Mammoth🧔Neanderthals
Innovations
  • ›Language and culture
  • ›Agricultural revolution (~10,000 years ago)
  • ›Birth of civilization
Simplified Köppen
Af Rainforest
Am Monsoon
Aw Savanna
BW Desert
BS Steppe
Cf Temperate wet
Cs/Cw Temperate dry
Df Cold wet
Dw Cold dry
ET Tundra
EF Ice
CESM (Li et al. 2022)

Annual model means · 0 Ma: pre-industrial

Full exploration range1,800 Ma → Present
540 Ma → Present
Precambrian
Paleozoic
Mesozoic
Cenozoic
Cambrian
Ordovician
Devonian
Carbonif.
Permian
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
┆ Data transition · 540 Ma

Present