Africa, Asia, South America, and Antarctica share some patterns of primitive (fossil) plants and early reptiles, but do not have similar mammal populations. This therefore

A) casts serious doubts upon the theory of continental drift and fused land masses.
B) is an unsolved puzzle probably due to the random nature of biological evolution.
C) suggests that a pattern of land bridges existed at different times in geological history.
D) suggests that the earlier plants and reptiles evolved while continents were joined but mammals radiated into diverse groups after separation.
E) suggests that the mammals evolved earlier while continents were joined but plants and reptiles radiated into diverse groups after separation.

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Julius Ryan Palabrica · Accepted Answer

Final Answer : D, Explanation :  The fact that Africa, Asia, South America, and Antarctica share patterns of primitive plants and early reptiles, but not similar mammal populations, suggests that the earlier plants and reptiles evolved while continents were joined but mammals radiated into diverse groups after separation. This supports the theory of continental drift and fused land masses, as it indicates that the separation of the continents happened after the evolution of primitive plant and reptile populations, but before the evolution of diverse mammal populations.

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