Identify the geological period when the reptile lived. Locate, on a map of Pangaea, the localities where Mesosaurus lived. Describe the habitat where Mesosaurus lived. Draw conclusions why Mesosaurus has only been found in Africa and Brazil and how its fossil remains serve as important evidence that shows where two continents were once joined together. Explain the rudiments of plate tectonic theory as it relates to the movement of continents.
Students form groups of four or five.
Students will first research the Mesosaurus, discover what it looked like, what it ate, where it lived, and where the fossil remains have been found. Teacher will cut up the drawing of the Mesosaurus skeleton and make copies of the bones in disarray that are distributed to study groups. The groups can cut them up and reassemble them, gluing them together in appropriate order. Students can draw the animal from their paper fossil evidence and finally, compare it with the artist's rendering in the fossil book 3. Students will locate, on a current map of the world where the fossils were found.