The Ancient Seas How do we know what lived in the sea long ago Fossils Ancient bones shells and other parts of living things washed up on seashores where people found them Finding fossils led people such as Mary Anning to discover megafauna The rocks on this beach in Lyme Regis England sometimes have fossils in them 4
When she was 12 her brother Joseph found a skull on the beach near their home in England What could it be Mary wanted to know so she spent months digging up sand around the bones to see the entire creature In total it was 17 feet 5 2 meters long A Sea Monster Some people said that Mary had found a sea monster but scientists thought Mary had found the skeleton of a crocodile They argued about what it was for years before naming it Ichthyosaurus which means fish lizard This Ichthyosaurus skeleton has been preserved for millions of years 5
Giant unusual life forms filled the seas long before humans ever lived Ancient seas were filled with megafauna What was it like to live in the sea long ago Scientists say that 299 million to 273 million years ago there was only one continent and one giant ocean They named this land Pangaea and called the ocean around it Panthalassa As time passed Pangaea slowly broke apart and new continents formed The continents and the oceans around them were given new names 6
Pangaea Asia Europe Europe Europe NorthNorth North America America America Africa South America Antarctica Panthalassa Australia From One Ocean to Five The Pacific Ocean the Atlantic Ocean the Arctic Ocean and the Indian Ocean are the oldest named oceans In 2000 the Southern Ocean circling Antarctica was named by the International Hydrographic Organization The World Today Arctic Ocean North America Europe Europe Europe Asia Atlantic Ocean South America Africa Southern Ocean Pacific Ocean Indian Ocean Australia Antarctica 7
