Take a look at a map of the world. Now look at the two continents of South America and Africa. Do you notice how South America sticks out to the right where Brazil is, and how Africa is indented on the left side? Doesn t it seem as if you could fit them together like a puzzle and make them one continent?

Well, 50 years ago a German scientist named Alfred Wegener was doing just that. He wrote: “He who examines the opposite coasts of the South Atlantic Ocean must be somewhat surprised by the similarity of the shapes of the coastlines of Brazil and Africa. Every projection on the Brazilian side corresponds to a similarly shaped indentation on the African side.”

Wegener also learned that naturalists had been studying the prehistoric plant and animal life of South America and Africa and had found many similarities. This convinced him that these two continents were once attached and had drifted apart.

He formulated a theory which he called the theory of the displacement of continents. According to this theory, the land masses of the earth were once all joined together in one continuous continent. There were rivers, lakes, and inland seas. Then fpr some unknown reason, this land mass began to break up. South America split off from Africa and drifted away. North America split off from Western Europe and floated to the west. All of the continents as we now know them were thus formed.

Did this actually happen as Wegener says it did? We don’t know. It’s only a theory. But as you can see from the map, there is some evidence to support it. And the study of prehistoric plant and animal life makes it seem possible, too. Besides, the earth’s crust is still shifting today. So perhaps Wegener was right!