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- What is Mesosaurus in plate tectonics?
- What is Mesosaurus in science?
- What are Mesosaurus fossils?
- What type of organisms is Mesosaurus?
- What continent was Mesosaurus?
- What is convection current in tectonic plates?
- Was Mesosaurus a fully aquatic reptile?
- Can a Mesosaurus swim across the ocean?
- How did the Mesosaurus fossils got separated?
- Did Mesosaurus lay eggs?
- Where does the mosasaurus live?
- What type of fossil is Glossopteris?
- What fossils were found in South America and Africa?
- What is convection theory?
- What is convection in geography?
- What is convection geology?
What is Mesosaurus in plate tectonics?
Mesosaurus and Its Fossils
And that made it possible to use its fossils as evidence of the biggest idea in geology: plate tectonics. Mesosaurus, meaning middle lizard, is the name of a genus of extinct aquatic animals that lived in the southern hemisphere during early Permian time.
What is Mesosaurus in science?
Mesosaurus, (genus Mesosaurus), early aquatic relative of reptiles, found as fossils from the Early Permian Period (299 million to 271 million years ago) in South Africa and South America.
What are Mesosaurus fossils?
Mesosaurus fossils have been found in South America and Africa. Mesosaurus means “middle lizard,” and these creatures were ancient lizards that looked a bit like small crocodiles, with narrow heads and long tails. They had webbed feet and grew to about 1 meter (3.3 feet) long.
What type of organisms is Mesosaurus?
Mesosaurus was a lizard-like animal that lived in South America and Africa during the Permian Period. Mesosaurus is considered one of the earliest aquatic relatives of reptiles and mammals [1].
What continent was Mesosaurus?
Remains of Mesosaurus, a freshwater crocodile-like reptile that lived during the early Permian (between 286 and 258 million years ago), are found solely in Southern Africa and Eastern South America. It would have been physiologically impossible for Mesosaurus to swim between the continents.
What is convection current in tectonic plates?
Convection currents describe the rising, spread, and sinking of gas, liquid, or molten material caused by the application of heat. ... Tremendous heat and pressure within the earth cause the hot magma to flow in convection currents. These currents cause the movement of the tectonic plates that make up the earth's crust.
Was Mesosaurus a fully aquatic reptile?
“Despite being considered the oldest-known fully aquatic reptile, mesosaurs share several anatomical features with terrestrial species,” says Professor Graciela Piñeiro, who completed this research at the Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Uruguay.
Can a Mesosaurus swim across the ocean?
The fossils of this prehistoric reptile have been discovered in eastern South America and southern Africa, and since Mesosaurus lived in freshwater lakes and rivers, it clearly couldn't have swum across the expanse of the southern Atlantic Ocean.
How did the Mesosaurus fossils got separated?
How did the Mesosaurus fossils on the South American Plate and African Plate get so far apart? Earth's plates travel at a rate too slow to be experienced by humans. It takes a long time for Earth's plates to travel great distances. The Mesosaurus fossils moved apart gradually over tens of millions of years.
Did Mesosaurus lay eggs?
It is the second largest fossil egg ever found and may have belonged to a mosasaur, a 10-meter-long marine predator. Some snakes and lizards, living mosasaur relatives, lay eggs with thin shells that hatch almost as soon as they are laid. The new find suggests mosasaurs may have, too.
Where does the mosasaurus live?
Where did mosasaurs live? Mosasaurs lived in the ocean. It's likely they preferred shallow waters for the abundant prey which could be found there, but their anatomy suggests that they would also have been excellent open-water swimmers.
What type of fossil is Glossopteris?
Glossopteris, genus of fossilized woody plants known from rocks that have been dated to the Permian and Triassic periods (roughly 300 to 200 million years ago), deposited on the southern supercontinent of Gondwana. Glossopteris occurred in a variety of growth forms.
What fossils were found in South America and Africa?
far-flung fossils
Fossils of a shallow water reptile, Mesosaurus, were found in both Africa and South America even though they could not swim across the Atlantic Ocean. Fossils of a family of seed ferns, Glossopteris, were found in Africa, South America, India, and Antarctica.
What is convection theory?
The formation of depressions by convective ascent of heated surface air during a sufficient interval and of sufficient magnitude for the inflowing air near the earth's surface to acquire appreciable cyclonic rotation in accordance with the circulation theorem.
What is convection in geography?
Convection is the circular motion that happens when warmer air or liquid — which has faster moving molecules, making it less dense — rises, while the cooler air or liquid drops down. ... Convection currents within the earth move layers of magma, and convection in the ocean creates currents.
What is convection geology?
« Back to Glossary Index. The property of unevenly-heated (heated from one direction) fluids (like water, air, ductile solids) in which warmer, less dense parts within the fluid rise while cooler, denser parts sink.
