Broad groups that evolved before the breakup of Pangaea are distributed worldwide, and that breakup happened about:
A200 million years ago
B20 million years ago
C2 million years ago
D200 thousand years ago
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. 200 million years ago
1. Where a group lives today reflects where the continents were when it arose.
2. A group that already existed when the land was joined could spread across all of it.
3. Broad groups that evolved before the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, about 200 million years ago, are distributed worldwide.
4. Groups arising after the breakup are instead restricted to particular continents.
5. The other options are off by one to three orders of magnitude.
_Source: OpenStax Biology for AP(R) Courses (CC BY 4.0), Ch 18 'Evolution and the Origin of Species', sections 18.1-18.3_
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