Mesosaurus and separated continents

Exploration · Permian

Mesosaurus and separated continents

Starting point · 278 Ma

An imagined Early Permian aquatic habitat of Mesosaurus. Color, pattern, water and scenery are interpretive, not an exact locality or ocean crossing.

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.