Today, Antarctica is cold and covered by an ice sheet year-round. Geologists have found fossils of tropical ferns in the rocks under Antarctica's ice. What do the tropical fern fossils in Antarctica suggest about Earth's past?

Tropical ferns grow in warm, moist environments, so their fossils indicate that Antarctica once had a much warmer, wetter climate than it does today. They do not suggest hot, dry or icy conditions, and fossils can form in many regions, not only the tropics. The best answer is “The region had a warm, moist climate in the past.”

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