Scientists want to support the claim that major plate motions divided two landmasses around 200 million years ago. To do this, they compare the fossils of snails found at different depths in two locations thought to have been joined prior to the plate movement.

Question

 
How do the properties of the fossils support the scientists' claim? Move each property to the group of fossils that would ,begin emphasis,best,end emphasis, support the scientists' claim. All properties must be moved.
Response area with 2 blank spaces
Fossil snails closest to the surface:
Blank space 1 empty
 
Fossil snails buried most deeply:
Blank space 2 empty
Answer options with 4 options.

Answer 1

To support the scientists' claim about major plate motions dividing two landmasses around 200 million years ago, the properties of the fossils can be categorized based on their depth and similarity across the two locations.

Here are the properties you can move:

1. Fossil snails closest to the surface:

   • Similarities in the physical characteristics of surface-level fossils from both locations. (Supports the claim that they were once part of the same landmass.)

2. Fossil snails buried most deeply:

   • Differences in the physical characteristics of the deeply buried fossils from both locations. (Supports the claim that after separation, the two populations evolved differently.)

So the groupings would look like this:

• Blank space 1: Similarities in the physical characteristics of surface-level fossils from both locations.
• Blank space 2: Differences in the physical characteristics of the deeply buried fossils from both locations.

This setup highlights both the shared ancestry of the fossils from when the landmasses were joined, as well as the divergence that occurred after their separation.