Question

hapter 1: 1. Explain how the movements of the continents through time have had majoreffets on vertebrate evolution. Chapter 5: 1. Describe how 2. How did 3. With respect to vertebrates' diet, what important development occurred during the late Carboniferous and the position of the continents changed from the beginning to the end of the Paleozoic. terrestrial food webs of the Silurian and Devonian differ from modern ecosystems? Permian? 4. Massive extinctions occurred at the end of the Paleozoic. What animals were impacted and what is our current understanding of the causes of these extinctions?

Answer 1

Chapter 1

Answer 1:

The continents on Earth are divided up into large "plates" . These Plates move and float on the liquid like rock which makes up the mantle of the Earth. These plates move as the convection currents in the mantle move below them. These plates are called plate tectonics . Some plates move faster than others, but all are moving, at a very slow rate of only a few centimeters, on average, per year.

This movement leads to a phenomenon called "continental drift". The actual continents move apart and come back together depending on the way the plates attached are moving. Movement of continents affected evolution in the following way:

As continents broke apart from Pangaea, species got separated by seas and oceans and speciation occurred. Individuals that were once able to interbreed were reproductively isolated from one another and acquired adaptations that made them incompatible. This led to evolution by creating new species.

Also, as the continents drift, they move into new climates. What was once at the equator may now be near the poles. If species did not adapt to these changes in the weather and temperature, then they would not survive and go extinct. New species would take their place and learn to survive in the new areas.