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Glossopteris
The genus name Glossopteris comes from the shape of these leaves: it means "tongue-shaped feather." These leaves are a typical fossil of Permian strata from continents of the southern hemisphere and were important for the development of the theory of continental drift. Specimen on display at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History.
Mesosaurus
Mesosaurus is an extinct, small-sized, Permian marine reptile. It is very important for the history of geology because its disjunct distribution (eastern South America and western Africa) was used to argue in favor of continental drift (an early version of plate tectonics). These impressions of a vertebral column and a few ribs were photographed at the Cruziero Quarry, where strata of the Irati Formation of the Paraná Basin of Brazil are exposed.
Lystrosaurus
This incomplete but articulated skeleton is a specimen of Lystrosaurus, an extinct terrestrial vertebrate (synapsid) the remains of which are found in several distant locations in the southern hemisphere, including Antarctica. The widespread distribution of Lystrosaurus was used by early proponents of the continental drift theory to suggest the existence of a once unified supercontinent, Pangea. Hence, its iconic status in geology and paleontology. Specimen on display at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History.