Word: pangaea
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When these terrestrial reptiles first appeared 200 million years ago near the end of what geologists call the Triassic Period, tropical or subtropical forests covered much of the landscape. The continents were gathered in a single primordial landmass called Pangaea. Initially, the dinosaurs were relatively small and vulnerable, about the size of ponies. Many of them undoubtedly fell victim to voracious, crocodile-like reptiles called phytosaurs. But by using almost every evolutionary stratagem, they proliferated in number and diversity. Some developed thick protective plating, comparable to that of modern-day armadillos. Ankylosaurus had armor on its skull, knobby stubs over...
...along the Transantarctic Mountains. There are strong indications of other treasures as well. More than 200 million years ago, before the world's continents began their slow drift apart, Antarctica was attached to South America, Africa, India and Australia as part of a great landmass that scientists call Pangaea (Greek for whole earth). In strata similar to those of its long-separated continental cousins, Antarctica, like the tip of South America and southeastern Australia, may possess uranium...