What can you say about the ages of two widely seperated layers of rock that contain the same type of fossil? what can you say about the environments of these widely separated layers

This means that the two separate rocks were once part of one piece of rock. These layers got separated most probably by continental drift as a result of tectonic plate movements. An example of such a fossil is the Mesosaurus, a freshwater crocodile-like reptile, that is found in Southern Africa and Eastern South America continents- that means they were once one land mass.

The environment in these two separate layers would most likely be different. As the layers drift apart from each other , they drift across latitudes that are determinants of climate in a region. Therefore, even the organisms in these two rock layers will evolve differently (even though they will share a common ancestor) in adaptation to respective environments – this is called allopatric speciation.  

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