Alfred Wegener noticed that the continents look like they fit together like puzzle pieces and believed they were once joined as one large landmass. This idea became known as the theory of continental drift, which states that continents slowly move over time.
To support his theory, Wegener gathered several types of evidence. First, the shapes of continents, especially South America and Africa, match closely. Second, glacial evidence shows similar glacial scratch marks in Africa, South America, India, and Australia, suggesting these areas were once connected.
Wegener also used fossil evidence. Fossils of the freshwater reptile Mesosaurus were found in both South America and Africa, making it unlikely the animal crossed an ocean. Other fossils, including Cynognathus, Lystrosaurus, and the plant Glossopteris, were found on continents now far apart, supporting the idea they were once joined.
In addition, Wegener matched mountain ranges across continents, such as the Appalachian Mountains and similar ranges in Europe and Greenland. He also found coal deposits in Antarctica, indicating it was once warmer and closer to the equator.
Although Wegener died before his theory was accepted, later discoveries confirmed that continents move due to plate tectonics, and his ideas became an important part of modern Earth science.
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