Contributions of Naturalists and Explorers to Understanding the Mesozoic Era Essay (Critical Writing)

Contributions of Alfred Russel Wallace to Biogeography and Natural Selection

Several remarkable naturalists and explorers, such as Alfred Russel Wallace, a British naturalist, traveler, geographer, biologist, and anthropologist, contributed significantly to investigating the Mesozoic era. In the 1850s, Wallace conducted studies of the Amazon River basin and the Malay Archipelago, according to the results of which he collected a vast natural science collection (McCarthy, 2011). He also established the so-called “Wallace line” that separated the fauna of Australia from Asia. The geologist did not consider it vital to boost his perception of natural selection as Darwin did. Still, he criticized Lamarckism and introduced the term “Darwinism” into scientific circulation.

Alfred Wegener’s Theory of Continental Drift

Alfred Wegener was the first to collect a wide variety of materials in support of the hypothesis of continental drift and systematically engaged in its promotion. The same fossils — plant and animal – can be found on different continents. Yes, it can be assumed that once there were land bridges between these continents, such as the current Isthmus of Panama between the two Americas (McCarthy, 2011). But, as Wegener showed, many such bridges are impossible for geophysical reasons. But if the continents were once put together, as in the diagram, we would get continuous distribution areas of these plants and animals in ancient times, and everything would be explained.

He also established that by bringing together the west of Africa and the east of South America, many of the geological characteristics of these coasts would perfectly fit together, as if they were combined earlier and then separated. According to Wegener, 300 million years ago, all the current continents were molded into one supercontinent – Pangaea (McCarthy, 2011). He assumed that the driving forces could be associated with the rotation of the Earth or with tidal phenomena. However, it is easy to show that these forces are not enough for the continents to “crawl,” plowing through the ocean floor, and a sufficient force will destroy the continents.

The Rejection of Wegener’s Theory and the Role of Alexander du Toit

Wegener’s theory, which contradicted the accepted ideas, was not just rejected: it was ridiculed and considered pseudoscience in the twenties, thirties, and forties of the 20th century. Only a few experts have tried to develop its provisions — for example, Alexander du Toit. The South African geologist proposed the existence of two ancient supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana, separated by the Tethys Ocean. Or Arthur Holmes in England, who took the first step towards explaining the drift mechanism, although the whole concept arose much later.

The Role of Biogeography in Understanding the Earth’s Past

Only biogeography has life on Earth as a direct object of its study – vegetation and wildlife as components of landscapes. Therefore, having investigated the lands, these researchers have solved the major problems of the chosen era – the development of life and landscape moves. Knowledge of the planet’s past, information about changes in the ratio of continents and oceans in different geological periods, the climate of past epochs, and fossils of animals and plants allow us to establish the causes of the modern spread of organisms. These are associated not only with their ecological characteristics but also with their geological past.

Only biogeographic research methods allow for studying such problems as the geography of the production and mass of living matter or the causes of the modern spread of organisms and their communities. Most importantly, it enables learning the principles of biogeographic division of land and determining the boundaries of biogeographic regions, which were unclear during the Mesozoic period. Considering that the era was influential, the field is most suitable for finding all the answers.

Darwin’s Application of Biogeography to the Study of Finches and Evolution

Darwin’s conclusions, based on his observations of reptiles, were applied to the study of the feathered kingdom—in particular, finches. They gave him the key to the riddle of evolution—natural selection or survival of the fittest individuals. A separate population of finches was formed on each island, with characteristic features inherent only to it. Darwin’s genius manifested in the fact that he created a fruitful theory from his observations that explained the mechanism of the development of the natural world.

Reference

McCarthy, D. (2011). Here be dragons: How the study of animal and plant distributions revolutionized our views of life and Earth. OUP Oxford.