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A supercontinent cycle is the break-up of one supercontinent and the development of another, which takes place on a global scale. [4] Supercontinent cycles are not the same as the Wilson cycle, which is the opening and closing of an individual oceanic basin. The Wilson cycle rarely synchronizes with the timing of a supercontinent cycle. [1]
Dicroidium zuberi, an Early Triassic plant from Pangaea (present-day Argentina) The four floristic provinces of the world at the Permian-Carboniferous boundary, 300 million years ago. Pangaea existed as a supercontinent for 160 million years, from its assembly around 335 Ma (Early Carboniferous) to its breakup 175 Ma (Middle Jurassic). [3]
Map of Pangaea with modern continental outlines. The supercontinent cycle is the quasi-periodic aggregation and dispersal of Earth's continental crust.There are varying opinions as to whether the amount of continental crust is increasing, decreasing, or staying about the same, but it is agreed that the Earth's crust is constantly being reconfigured.
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All of these facts, the types of plants and animals found on oceanic islands, the large number of endemic species found on oceanic islands, and the relationship of such species to those living on the nearest continents, are most easily explained if the islands were colonized by species from nearby continents that evolved into the endemic ...
Three-fourths [18] of Madagascar's 860 [15] orchid species are found here alone, as are six of the world's eight baobab species. [19] The island is home to around 170 palm species, three times as many as on all of mainland Africa; 165 of them are endemic. [18] Many native plant species are used as herbal remedies for a variety of afflictions.
Banksia, a grevilleoid Proteaceae, is an example of a plant from a family with a Gondwanan distribution The adjective "Gondwanan" is in common use in biogeography when referring to patterns of distribution of living organisms, typically when the organisms are restricted to two or more of the now-discontinuous regions that were once part of ...
Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described—of which around 1 million are insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million in total. Animals range in size from 8.5 millionths of a metre to 33.6 metres (110 ft) long and have complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs.