Gondwana - wikipedia Gondwana This article is about the supercontinent. For other uses, see Gondwana ( disambiguation ). Gondwana Map of Pangaea with Laurasia and Gondwana. 200 mya Historical continent Formed 600 Mya Type Supercontinent Today part of Africa North America South America Australia India Arabia Antarctica Balkans Smaller continents Atlantica India Australia Antarctica Zealandia Tectonic plate African Plate Antarctic Plate Indo - Australian Plate South American Plate Gondwana ( / ɡɒndˈwɑːnə / ), or Gondwanaland, was a supercontinent that formed from the unification of several cratons in the Late Neoproterozoic, merged with Laurasia in the Carboniferous to form Pangaea, and began to fragment in the Mesozoic. It was the largest continental landmass on Earth, covering an area of 100,000,000 km ( 39,000,000 sq mi ) or 64 % of today 's continents. Located in the Southern Hemisphere, it incorporated several modern landmasses, including Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar, and Australia, as well as the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent, which have now moved entirely into the Northern Hemisphere. The formation of Gondwana began c. 800 to 650 Ma with the East African Orogeny -- the collision of India, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka with East Africa -- and was completed c. 600 to 530 Ma with the overlapping Brasiliano and Kuunga orogenies -- the collision of South America with Africa and the addition of Australia and Antarctica, respectively. Contents 1 Origin of concept 2 Formation 3 Pangaea 4 Peri-Gondwana 5 Break - up 5.1 Mesozoic 5.2 Cenozoic 6 Biogeography 7 See also 8 References 8.1 Notes 8.2 Sources 9 Further reading 10 External links Origin of concept The continent of Gondwana was named by Austrian scientist Eduard Suess, after the Gondwana region of central northern India which is derived from Sanskrit for `` forest of the Gonds ''. The name had been previously used in a geological context, first by H.B. Medlicott in 1872, from which the Gondwana sedimentary sequences ( Permian - Triassic ) are also described. The term `` Gondwanaland '' is preferred by some scientists in order to make a clear distinction between the region and the supercontinent. Formation Eastern Gondwana. 620 to 550 Ma post-collisional extension of the East African Orogeny in blue and 570 to 530 Ma collisional metamorphism of the Kuunga orogeny in red. The assembly of Gondwana was a protracted process that occurred during the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic which remains relatively poorly constrained because of the lack of paleo - magnetic data. Several orogenies, collectively known as the Pan-African orogeny, led to the amalgamation of most of the continental fragments of a much older supercontinent, Rodinia. One of those orogenic belts, the Mozambique Belt, formed c. 800 to 650 Ma and was originally interpreted as the suture between East ( India, Madagascar, Antarctica, and Australia ) and West Gondwana ( Africa and South America ). Three orogenies were recognized during the 1990s : the East African Orogeny ( 650 to 800 Ma ) and Kuunga orogeny ( including the Malagasy Orogeny in southern Madagascar ) ( 550 Ma ) -- the collision between East Gondwana and East Africa in two steps, and the Brasiliano orogeny ( 660 to 530 Ma ) -- the collision between South American and African cratons. The final stages of Gondwanan assembly overlapped with the opening of the Iapetus Ocean between Laurentia and western Gondwana. During this interval, the Cambrian explosion occurred. Laurentia was docked against the western shores of a united Gondwana for a short period near the Precambrian / Cambrian boundary, forming the short - lived and still disputed supercontinent Pannotia. The Mozambique Ocean separated the Congo -- Tanzania -- Bangweulu Block of central Africa from Neoproterozoic India ( India, the Antongil Block in far eastern Madagascar, the Seychelles, and the Napier and Rayner Complexes in East Antarctica ). The Azania continent ( much of central Madagascar, the Horn of Africa and parts of Yemen and Arabia ) was an island in the Mozambique Ocean. The Australia / Mawson continent was still separated from India, eastern Africa, and Kalahari by c. 600 Ma when most of western Gondwana had already been amalgamated. By c. 550 Ma, India had reached its Gondwana position which initiated the Kuunga orogeny ( also known as the Pinjarra orogeny ). Meanwhile, on the other side of the forming Africa, Kalahari collided with Congo and Rio de la Plata which closed the Adamastor Ocean. c. 540 -- 530 Ma the closure of the Mozambique Ocean brought India next to Australia -- East Antarctica and both North and South China were located in proximity to Australia. Other blocks which helped to form parts of the Southern Cone of South America, including a piece transferred from Laurentia when the west edge of Gondwana scraped against southeast Laurentia in the Ordovician. This is the Cuyania or Precordillera terrane of the Famatinian orogeny in northwest Argentina which may have continued the line of the Appalachians southwards, Reconstruction showing final stages of assembly of Gondwana, 550 Mya As the rest of Gondwana formed, a complex series of orogenic events assembled the eastern parts of Gondwana ( eastern Africa, Arabian - Nubian Shield, Seychelles, Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, East Antarctica, and Australia ) c. 750 to 530 Ma. First the Arabian - Nubian Shield collided with eastern Africa ( in the Kenya - Tanzania region ) in the East African Orogeny c. 750 to 620 Ma. Then Australia and East Antarctica were merged with the remaining Gondwana c. 570 to 530 Ma in the Kuunga Orogeny. The later Malagasy orogeny at about 550 -- 515 Mya affected Madagascar, eastern East Africa and southern India. In it, Neoproterozoic India collided with the already combined Azania and Congo -- Tanzania -- Bangweulu Block, suturing along the Mozambique Belt. The 18,000 km ( 11,000 mi ) - long Terra Australis Orogen developed along Gondwana 's western, southern, and eastern margins. Proto - Gondwanan Cambrian arc belts from this margin have been found in eastern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and Antarctica. Though these belts formed a continuous arc chain, the direction of subduction was different between the Australian - Tasmanian and New Zealand - Antarctica arc segments. Pangaea Main article : Pangaea Gondwana and Laurasia formed the Pangaea supercontinent during the Carboniferous. Pangaea began to break up in the Mid-Jurassic when the Central Atlantic opened. In the western end of Pangaea, the collision between Gondwana and Laurussia closed the Rheic and Palaeo - Tethys oceans. The obliquity of this closure resulted in the docking of some northern terranes in the Marathon, Ouachita, Alleghanian, and Variscan orogenies, respectively. Southern terranes, such as Chortis and Oaxaca, on the other hand, remained largely unaffected by the collision along the southern shores of Laurentia. Some Peri-Gondwanan terranes, such as Yucatán and Florida, were buffered from collisions by major promontories. Other terranes, such as Carolina and Meguma, were directly involved in the collision. The final collision resulted in the Variscan - Appalachian Mountains, stretching from present - day Mexico to southern Europe. Meanwhile, Baltica collided with Siberia and Kazakhstania which resulted in the Uralian orogeny and Laurasia. Pangaea was finally amalgamated in the Late Carboniferous - Early Permian but the oblique forces continued until Pangaea began to rift in the Triassic. In the eastern end collisions occurred slightly later. The North China, South China, and Indochina blocks rifted from Gondwana during the middle Paleozoic and opened the Proto - Tethys Ocean. North China docked with Mongolia and Siberia during the Carboniferous -- Permian followed by South China. The Cimmerian blocks then rifted from Gondwana to form the Palaeo - Thethys and Neo-Tethys oceans in the Late Carboniferous and docked with Asia during the Triassic and Jurassic. Western Pangaea began to rift while the eastern end was still being assembled. The formation of Pangaea and its mountains had a tremendous impact on global climate and sea levels, which resulted in glaciations and continent - wide sedimentation. In North America, the base of the Absaroka sequence coincides with the Alleghanian and Ouachita orogenies and are indicative of a large - scale change in the mode of deposition far away from the Pangaean orogenies. Ultimately, these changes contributed to the Permian -- Triassic extinction event and left large deposits of hydrocarbons, coal, evaporite, and metals. The break - up of Pangaea began with the Central Atlantic magmatic province ( CAMP ) between South America, Africa, North America, and Europe. CAMP covered more than seven million square kilometres over a few million years, reached its peak at c. 200 Ma, and coincided with the Triassic -- Jurassic extinction event. The reformed Gondwanan continent was not precisely the same as that which had existed before Pangaea formed ; for example, most of Florida and southern Georgia and Alabama is underlain by rocks that were originally part of Gondwana, but this region stayed attached to North America when the Central Atlantic opened. Peri-Gondwana A large number of terranes were accreted to Eurasia during Gondwana 's existence but the Cambrian or Precambrian origin of many of these terranes remains uncertain. For example, some Palaeozoic terranes and microcontinents that now make up Central Asia, often called the `` Kazakh '' and `` Mongolian terranes '', were progressively amalgamated into the continent Kazakhstania in the Late Silurian. Whether these blocks originated on the shores of Gondwana is not known. In the Early Palaeozoic the Armorican terrane, which today form large parts of France, was part of either Peri-Gondwana or core Gondwana ; the Rheic Ocean closed in front of it and the Palaeo - Tethys Ocean opened behind it. Precambrian rocks from the Iberian Peninsula suggest it too probably formed part of core Gondwana before its detachment as an orocline in the Variscan orogeny close to the Carboniferous -- Permian boundary. South - east Asia is made of Gondwanan and Cathaysian continental fragments that were assembled during the Mid-Palaeozoic and Cenozoic. This process can be divided into three phases of rifting along Gondwana 's northern margin : firstly, in the Devonian, North and South China together with Tarim and Quidam ( north - western China ) rifted opening the Palaeo - Tethys behind them. These terranes accreted to Asia during Late Devonian and Permian. Secondly, in the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian, Cimmerian terranes opened Meso - Tethys Ocean ; Sibumasu and Qiantang were added to south - east Asia during Late Permian and Early Jurassic. Thirdly, in the Late Triassic to Late Jurassic, Lhasa, West Burma, Woyla terranes opened the Neo-Tethys Ocean ; Lhasa collided with Asia during the Early Cretaceous and West Burma and Woyla during the Late Cretaceous. During the Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic phase of the Terra Australis orogen a series of terranes were rafted from the Andean margin when the Iapteus Ocean opened, to be added back to Gondwana during the closure of that ocean. Gondwana 's long, northern margin had remained a mostly passive margin throughout the Palaeozoic. The Early Permian opening of the Neo-Tethys Ocean along this margin produced a long series of terranes many of which were and still are being deformed in the Himalaya Orogeny. From Turkey to north - eastern India : the Taurides in southern Turkey ; the Lesser Caucasus Terrane in Georgia ; the Sanand, Alborz, and Lut terranes in Iran ; the Mangysglak or Kopetdag Terrane in the Caspian Sea ; the Afghan Terrane ; the Karakorum Terrane in northern Pakistan ; and the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes in Tibet. The Permian -- Triassic widening of the Neo-Tethys pushed all these terranes across the Equator and over to Eurasia. Break - up Mesozoic Antarctica, the centre of the supercontinent, shared boundaries with all other Gondwana continents and the fragmentation of Gondwana propagated clockwise around it. The break - up was the result of one of the Earth 's most extensive large igneous provinces c. 200 to 170 Ma, but the oldest magnetic anomalies between South America, Africa, and Antarctica are found in what is now the southern Weddell Sea where initial break - up occurred during the Jurassic c. 160 to 180 Ma. Opening of western Indian Ocean Gondwana began to break up in the early Jurassic following the extensive and fast emplacement of the Karoo - Ferrar flood basalts c. 184 Ma. Before the Karoo plume initiated rifting between Africa and Antarctica, it separated a series of smaller continental blocks from Gondwana 's southern, Proto - Pacific margin ( along what is now the Transantarctic Mountains ) : the Antarctic Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land, Zealandia, and Thurston Island ; the Falkland Islands and Ellsworth -- Whitmore Mountains ( in Antarctica ) were rotated 90 ° in opposite directions ; and South America south of the Gastre Fault ( often referred to as Patagonia ) was pushed westward. The history of the Africa - Antarctica break - up can be studied in great detail in the fracture zones and magnetic anomalies flanking the Southwest Indian Ridge. The Madagascar block and the Mascarene Plateau, stretching from the Seychelles to Réunion, were broken off India ; elements of this breakup nearly coincide with the Cretaceous -- Paleogene extinction event. The India -- Madagascar -- Seychelles separations appear to coincide with the eruption of the Deccan basalts, whose eruption site may survive as the Réunion hotspot. The Seychelles and the Maldives are now separated by the Central Indian Ridge. Opening of eastern Indian Ocean East Gondwana, comprising Antarctica, Madagascar, India, and Australia, began to separate from Africa. East Gondwana then began to break up c. 132.5 to 96 Ma when India moved northwest from Australia - Antarctica. The Indian Plate and the Australian Plate are now separated by the Capricorn Plate and its diffuse boundaries. During the opening of the Indian Ocean, the Kerguelen hotspot first formed the Kerguelen Plateau on the Antarctic Plate c. 118 to 95 Ma and then the Ninety East Ridge on the Indian Plate at c. 100 Ma. The Kerguelen Plateau and the Broken Ridge, the southern end of the Ninety East Ridge, are now separated by the Southeast Indian Ridge. Separation between Australia and East Antarctica began c. 132 Ma with sea - floor spreading occurring c. 96 Ma. A shallow seaway developed over the South Tasman Rise during the Early Cenozoic and as oceanic crust started to separate the continents during the Eocene c. 35.5 Ma global ocean temperature dropped significantly. A dramatic shift from arc - to rift magmatism c. 100 Ma separated Zealandia, including New Zealand, the Campbell Plateau, Chatham Rise, Lord Howe Rise, Norfolk Ridge, and New Caledonia, from West Antarctica c. 84 Ma. Opening of South Atlantic Ocean The opening of the South Atlantic Ocean divided West Gondwana ( South America and Africa ), but there considerable debate over the exact timing of this break - up. Rifting propagated from south to north along Triassic -- Early Jurassic lineaments, but intra-continental rifts also began to develop within both continents in Jurassic -- Cretaceous sedimentary basins ; subdividing each continent into three sub-plates. Rifting began c. 190 Ma at Falkland latitudes, forcing Patagonia to move relative to the still static remainder of South America and Africa, and this westward movement lasted until the Early Cretaceous 126.7 Ma. From there rifting propagated northward during the Late Jurassic c. 150 Ma or Early Cretaceous c. 140 Ma most likely forcing dextral movements between sub-plates on either side. South of the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise the Paraná and Etendeka magmatics resulted in further ocean - floor spreading c. 130 to 135 Ma and the development of rifts systems on both continents, including the Central African Rift System and the Central African Shear Zone which lasted until c. 85 Ma. At Brazilian latitudes spreading is more difficult to assess because of the lack of palaeo - magnetic data, but rifting occurred in Nigeria at the Benue Trough c. 118 Ma. North of the Equator the rifting began after 120.4 Ma and continued until c. 100 to 96 Ma. Cenozoic This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( October 2011 ) As the age of mammals commenced, the continent of Australia - New Guinea began gradually to separate from Antarctica and move north ( 55 Mya ), rotating about its axis to begin with, and thus retaining some connection with the remainder of Gondwana for about 10 million years. The Indian subcontinent began to collide with Asia c. 70 Ma since when more than 1,400 km ( 870 mi ) of crust has been absorbed by the Himalayan - Tibetan orogen. During the Cenozoic the orogen resulted in the construction of the Tibetan Plateau between the Tethyan Himalayas in the south and the Kunlun and Qilian mountains in the north. Australia was warm and wet during the Palaeocene and dominated by rainforest. The opening of the Tasman Gateway at the Eocene - Oligocene boundary ( 33 Ma ) resulted in abrupt cooling but the Oligocene became a period of high rainfall with swamps in southeast Australia. During the Miocene a warm and humid climate developed with pockets of rainforests in central Australia but before the end of the period colder and drier climate severely reduced this rainforest. A brief period of increased rainfall in the Pliocene was followed by drier climate which favoured grassland. Since then the fluctuation between wet interglacial periods and dry glacial periods has developed into the present arid regime. Australia has thus experienced various climate changes over a 15 million year period with a gradual decrease in precipitation. The Tasman Gateway between Australia and Antarctica began to open c. 40 to 30 Ma. Palaeontological evidences indicate the Antarctic Circumpolar Current ( ACC ) was established in the Late Oligocene c. 23 Ma with the full opening of the Drake Passage and the deepening of the Tasman Gateway. The oldest oceanic crust in the Drake Passage, however, is 34 to 29 Ma - old which indicates spreading between the Antarctic and South American plates began near the Eocene / Oligocene boundary. Deep sea environments in Tierra del Fuego and the North Scotia Ridge during the Eocene and Oligocene indicate a `` Proto - ACC '' opened opened during this period. Later, 26 to 14 Ma, a series of events severally restricted the Proto - ACC : change to shallow marine conditions along the North Scotia Ridge ; closure of the Fuegan Seaway, the deep sea that existed in Tierra del Fuego ; and uplift of the Patagonian Cordillera. This, together with the reactivated Iceland plume, contributed to global warming. During the Miocene, the Drake Passage began to widen and as water flow between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula increased, the renewed ACC resulted in cooler global climate. Before the Drake Passage was fully open, a series of microplates acted as `` stepping stones '' and allowed continued biological interchange and stopped oceanic current circulation. With the establishment of the ACC Antarctica became a frigid continent that locks up much of the world 's fresh water as ice. Sea temperatures dropped by almost 10 ° C, and the global climate became much colder. By about 15 Mya, the collision between New Guinea ( on the leading edge of the Australian Plate ) and the southwestern part of the Pacific Plate pushed up the New Guinea Highlands, causing a rain shadow effect which drastically changed weather patterns in Australia, drying it out. Later, South America was connected to North America via the Isthmus of Panama, cutting off a circulation of warm water and thereby making the Arctic colder, as well as allowing the Great American Interchange. The Red Sea and East African Rift are modern examples of continental rifting. Biogeography This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( October 2011 ) See also : Evolutionary history of plants The Nothofagus plant genus illustrates Gondwanan distribution, having descended from the supercontinent and existing in present - day Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the Southern Cone. Fossils have also recently been found in Antarctica. Life timeline view discuss edit - 4500 -- -- - 4000 -- -- - 3500 -- -- - 3000 -- -- - 2500 -- -- - 2000 -- -- - 1500 -- -- - 1000 -- -- - 500 -- -- 0 -- water Single - celled life photosynthesis Eukaryotes Multicellular life Land life Dinosaurs Mammals Flowers ← Earliest Earth ( − 4540 ) ← Earliest water ← Earliest life ← LHB meteorites ← Earliest oxygen ← Atmospheric oxygen ← Oxygen crisis ← Earliest sexual reproduction ← Ediacara biota ← Cambrian explosion ← Earliest humans h n r o z o i r o r o z o i r h n d n Pongola Huronian Cryogenian Andean Karoo Quaternary Axis scale : millions of years ago. Orange labels : ice ages. Also see : Human timeline and Nature timeline The adjective `` Gondwanan '' is in common use in biogeography when referring to patterns of distribution of living organisms, typically when the organisms are restricted to two or more of the now - discontinuous regions that were once part of Gondwana, including the Antarctic flora. For example, the plant family Proteaceae, known from all continent in the Southern Hemisphere, has a `` Gondwanan distribution '' and is often described as an archaic, or relict, lineage. The distributions in Proteaceae is, nevertheless, the result of both Gondwanan rafting and later oceanic dispersal. During the Silurian Gondwana extended from the Equator ( Australia ) to the South Pole ( North Africa and South America ) whilst Laurasia was located on the Equator opposite to Australia. A short - lived Late Ordovician glaciation was followed by a Silurian Hot House period. The End - Ordovician extinction, which resulted in 27 % of marine invertebrate families and 57 % of genera going extinct, occurred during this shift from Ice House to Hot House. By the end of the Ordovician Cooksonia, a slender, ground - covering plant, became the first vascular plant to establish itself on land. This first colonisation occurred exclusively around the Equator, landmasses which during the period was limited to Laurasia and, in Gondwana, to Australia. In the Late Silurian two distinctive linages, zosterophylls and rhyniophytes, had colonised the tropics. The former evolved into the lycopods, that were to dominate the Gondwanan vegetation over a long period, whilst the latter evolved into horsetails and gymnosperms. Most of Gondwana was located far from the Equator during this period a remained a lifeless and barren landscape. West Gondwana drifted north during the Devonian which brought Gondwana and Laurasia close together. Global cooling contributed to the Late Devonian extinction ( 19 % of marine families and 50 % of genera went extinct ) and glaciation occurred in South America. Before Pangaea had formed terrestrial plants, such as pteridophytes, began to diversify rapidly resulting in the colonisation of Gondwana. The Baragwanathia Flora, found only in the Yea Beds of Victoria, Australia, occurs in two strata separated by 1,700 m ( 5,600 ft ) or 30 Ma ; the upper assemblage is more diverse and includes Baragwanathia, the first primitive herbaceous lycopod to evolve from the zosterophylls. During the Devonian giant club mosses replaced the Baragwanathia Flora, introducing the first trees, and by the Late Devonian this first forest was accompanied by the progymnosperms, including the first large trees Archaeopteris. The Late Devonian extinction probably also resulted in osteolepiform fishes evolving into the amphibian tetrapods, the earliest land vertebrates, in Greenland and Russia. The only traces of this evolution in Gondwana are amphibian footprints and a single jaw from Australia. The closure of the Rheic Ocean and the formation of Pangaea in the Carboniferous resulted in the rerouting of ocean currents which initiated an Ice House period. As Gondwana began to rotate clockwise, Australia shifted south to more temperate latitudes. An ice cap initially covered most of southern Africa and South America but began to spread to eventually cover most of the supercontinent, save for northern-most Africa - South America and eastern Australia. Giant lycopod and horsetail forests continued to evolve in tropical Laurasia together with a diversified assemblage of true insects. In Gondwana, in contrast, ice and, in Australia, volcanism decimated the Devonian flora to a low - diversity seed fern flora -- the pteridophytes were increasingly replaced by the gymnosperms which were to dominate until the Mid-Cretaceous. Australia, however, was still located near the Equator during the Early Carboniferous and during this period temnospondyl and lepospondyl amphibians and the first amniote reptileans evolved, all closely related to the Laurasian fauna, but spreading ice eventally drove these animals away from Gondwana entirely. The Gondwana ice sheet melted and sea levels dropped during the Permian and Triassic global warming. During this period, the extinct glossopterids colonised Gondwana and reached peak diversity in the Late Permian when coal - forming forests covered much of Gondwana. The period also saw the evolution of Voltziales ; one of the few plant orders to survive the end - Permian extinction ( 57 % of marine families and 83 % of genera went extinct ) which came to dominate in the Late Permian and from whom true conifers evolved. Tall lycopods and horsetails dominated the wetlands of Gondwana in the Early Permian. Insects co-evolved with glossopterids across Gondwana and diversified with more than 200 species in 21 orders by the Late Permian, many known from South Africa and Australia. Beetles and cockroaches remained minor elements in this fauna. Tetrapod fossils from the Early Permian have only been found in Laurasia but they became common in Gondwana later during the Permian. The arrival of the therapsids resulted in the first plant - vertebrate - insect ecosystem. During the Mid - to Late Triassic Hot House condition coincided with a peak in biodiversity -- the end - Permian extinction was huge and so was the radiation that followed. Two families of conifers, Podocarpaceae and Araucariaceae, dominated Gondwana in the Early Triassic, but Dicroidium, an extinct genus of fork - leaved seed ferns, dominated woodlands and forests of Gondwana during most of the Triassic. Conifers evolved and radiated during the period with six of eight extant families already present before the end of it. Bennettitales and Pentoxylales, two now extinct orders of gymnospermous plants, evolved in the Late Triassic and became important in the Jurassic and Cretaceous. It is possible that gymnosperm biodiversity surpassed later angiosperm biodiversity and that the evolution of angiosperms began during the Triassic but, if so, in Laurasia rather than in Gondwana. Two Gondwanan classes, lycophytes and sphenophytes, saw a gradual decline during the Triassic while ferns, though never dominant, managed to diversify. During the Mesozoic, the world was on average considerably warmer than it is today. Gondwana was then host to a huge variety of flora and fauna for many millions of years. The laurel forest of Australia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand have a number of other related species of the laurissilva de Valdivia, through the connection of the Antarctic flora as gymnosperms and deciduous angiosperm Nothofagus. Corynocarpus laevigatus is called the bay of New Zealand, Laurelia novae - zelandiae belongs to the same genus Laurelia. The sempervirens tree niaouli grows in Australia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand. New Caledonia and New Zealand ecoregions became separated from Australia by continental drift 85 million years ago. The islands still retain plants that originated in Gondwana and spread to the Southern Hemisphere continents later. However, strong evidence exists of glaciation during the Carboniferous to Permian time, especially in South Africa. Xenarthra and Afrotheria, two placental clades, are of Gondwanan origin and probably began to evolve separately c. 105 Ma when Africa and South America separated. See also : Gondwanatheria See also Continental drift, the movement of the Earth 's continents relative to each other Geology of the Australasian ecozone Gondwana Rainforests of Australia The Great Escarpment of Southern Africa Plate tectonics, a theory which describes the large - scale motions of Earth 's lithosphere South Polar dinosaurs, which proliferated during the Early Cretaceous ( 145 -- 100 Mya ) while Australia was still linked to Antarctica to form East Gondwana Tarkine wilderness References Notes Jump up ^ `` Gondwana ''. Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group. Retrieved 18 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` Gondwanaland ''. Merriam - Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 18 January 2010. Jump up ^ Torsvik & Cocks 2013, Abstract Jump up ^ Meert & Van Der Voo 1997, Abstract Jump up ^ Suess 1885, p. 768 : `` Wir nennen es Gondwána - Land, nach der gemeinsamen alten Gondwána - Flora,... '' ( We name it Gondwána - Land, after the common ancient flora of Gondwána... ) ^ Jump up to : McLoughlin 2001, Gondwana or Gondwanaland ?, pp. 272 -- 273 Jump up ^ Meert 2003, Fig. 10, p. 19 Jump up ^ Meert & Van Der Voo 1997, Introduction, pp. 223 -- 226 Jump up ^ Miashita & Yamamoto 1996 Jump up ^ Meert & Van Der Voo 1997, p. 229 Jump up ^ Defined but not named in Collins & Pisarevsky 2005 : `` Azania '' was a Greek name for the East African coast Jump up ^ Li et al. 2008, The birth of Gondwanaland ( 600 -- 530 Ma ), p. 201 Jump up ^ Rapalini 2001 ; Rapalini 1998, pp. 105 -- 106 Jump up ^ Dalla Salda et al. 1998, Abstract ; Vujovich, van Staal & Davis 2004, Conclusions, p. 1053 Jump up ^ Meert 2003, Abstract Jump up ^ Grantham, Maboko & Eglington 2003 Jump up ^ Cawood 2005, Definition and Tectonic Framework, pp. 4 -- 6 Jump up ^ Münker & Crawford 2000, Abstract Jump up ^ Torsvik & Van Der Voo 2002, Data selection and reconstruction fits, p. 772 Jump up ^ Blakey 2003, Assembly of Western Pangaea : Carboniferous -- Permian, pp. 453 -- 454 Jump up ^ Blakey 2003, Assembly of Eastern Pangaea : Late Permian -- Jurassic, p. 454 Jump up ^ Blakey 2003, Summary : significance of Pangaean events, pp. 454 -- 455 Jump up ^ Marzoli et al. 1999, Abstract Jump up ^ `` Gondwana Remnants in Alabama And Georgia : Uchee Is An ' Exotic ' Peri-Gondwanan Arc Terrane, Not Part Of Laurentia ''. 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Jump up ^ Torsvik & Cocks 2013, Marginal microcontinents and terranes, p. 1008 Jump up ^ Torsvik & Cocks 2013, Southern Europe, pp. 1008 -- 1009 Jump up ^ McLoughlin 2001, Cimmerian terranes, p. 278 Jump up ^ Cawood 2005, Peri-Gondwanan continental basement assemblages, pp. 15 -- 16 Jump up ^ Torsvik & Cocks 2013, South - central and eastern Asia Jump up ^ Jokat et al. 2003, Introduction, pp. 1 -- 2 Jump up ^ Encarnación et al. 1996, Early rifting and Gondwana breakup, pp. 537 -- 538 Jump up ^ Royer et al. 1988, Figg. 7 a -- j, pp. 248 -- 257 Jump up ^ Powell, Roots & Veevers 1988, Abstract Jump up ^ DeMets, Gordon & Royer 2005, Introduction ; Fig. 1, p. 446 Jump up ^ Müller, Royer & Lawver 1993, Model results, pp. 277 -- 278 Jump up ^ McLoughlin 2001, East Antarctica -- Australia, p. 280 Jump up ^ McLoughlin 2001, West Antarctica -- Tasmantia, p. 280 Jump up ^ Seton et al. 2012, South Atlantic, pp. 217 -- 218 Jump up ^ Yin & Harrison 2000, Abstract Jump up ^ Martin 2006, Conclusions, pp. 557 -- 558 Jump up ^ Lagabrielle et al. 2009, Timing of opening of the Drake Passage region, pp. 198 -- 199 Jump up ^ Lagabrielle et al. 2009, Conclusions, p. 210 Jump up ^ Luyendyk, Forsyth & Phillips 1972, Abstract Jump up ^ HaoMin & ZheKun 2007 Jump up ^ Barker et al. 2007, Abstract Jump up ^ Anderson et al. 1999, SILURIAN : terrestrial life appears in the tropics, p. 148 Jump up ^ Anderson et al. 1999, The First Extinction, p. 151 Jump up ^ Anderson et al. 1999, The Silurian revolution, p. 151 Jump up ^ Anderson et al. 1999, DEVONIAN : colonising Gondwana ; The Second Extinction ; Global colonisation of plants, pp. 151, 153 Jump up ^ Anderson et al. 1999, Amphibian prelude, p. 153 Jump up ^ Anderson et al. 1999, CARBONIFEROUS : competing with ice, pp. 153 -- 154 Jump up ^ Anderson et al. 1999, PERMIAN : the glossopterid empire, pp. 153 -- 154 Jump up ^ Anderson et al. 1999, TRIASSIC : the gymnosperm heyday, pp. 155 -- 156 Jump up ^ Woodburne, Rich & Springer 2003, Gondwana and early mammal evolution, p. 375 Sources Anderson, J.M. ; Anderson, H.M. ; Archangelsky, S. ; Bamford, M. ; Chandra, S. ; Dettmann, M. ; Hill, R. ; McLoughlin, S. ; Rösler, O. 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Seton, M. ; Müller, R.D. ; Zahirovic, S. ; Gaina, C. ; Torsvik, T. ; Shephard, G. ; Talsma, A. ; Gurnis, M. ; Maus, S. ; Chandler, M. ( 2012 ). `` Global continental and ocean basin reconstructions since 200Ma '' ( PDF ). Earth - Science Reviews. 113 ( 3 ) : 212 -- 270. doi : 10.1016 / j. earscirev. 2012.03. 002. Retrieved 23 October 2016. Suess, E. ( 1885 ). Das Antlitz der Erde ( The Face of the Earth ) ( in German ). 1. Leipzig, Germany : G. Freytag. Retrieved 3 September 2017. Torsvik, T.H. ; Cocks, L.R.M. ( 2013 ). `` Gondwana from top to base in space and time '' ( PDF ). Gondwana Research. 24 ( 3 ) : 999 -- 1030. doi : 10.1016 / j. gr. 2013.06. 012. Retrieved 18 September 2013. Torsvik, T.H. ; Voo, R.V.D. ( 2002 ). `` Refining Gondwana and Pangea Palaeogeography : Estimates of Phanerozoic non ‐ dipole ( octupole ) fields '' ( PDF ). Geophysical Journal International. 151 ( 3 ) : 771 -- 794. doi : 10.1046 / j. 1365 - 246X. 2002.01799. x. Retrieved 16 September 2017. Vujovich, G.I. ; van Staal, C.R. ; Davis, W. ( 2004 ). `` Age constraints on the tectonic evolution and provenance of the Pie de Palo Complex, Cuyania composite terrane, and the Famatinian Orogeny in the Sierra de Pie de Palo, San Juan, Argentina '' ( PDF ). Gondwana Research. 7 ( 4 ) : 1041 -- 1056. doi : 10.1016 / S1342 - 937X ( 05 ) 71083 - 2. Retrieved 10 September 2017. Woodburne, M.O. ; Rich, T.H. ; Springer, M.S. ( 2003 ). `` The evolution of tribospheny and the antiquity of mammalian clades ''. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 28 ( 2 ) : 360 -- 385. doi : 10.1016 / S1055 - 7903 ( 03 ) 00113 - 1. Yin, A. ; Harrison, T.M. ( 2000 ). `` Geologic evolution of the Himalayan - Tibetan orogen '' ( PDF ). Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 28 ( 1 ) : 211 -- 280. doi : 10.1146 / annurev. earth. 28.1. 211. Retrieved 26 November 2017. Further reading Cattermole, Peter John ( 2000 ). Building Planet Earth : Five Billion Years of Earth History. London : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 58278 - 0. OCLC 317422973. Cowen, Richard ( 2000 ). History of Life ( 3rd ed. ). Malden, MA : Blackwell Science. ISBN 978 - 0 - 632 - 04444 - 3. OCLC 41572551. Lowrie, William ( 1997 ). Fundamentals of Geophysics. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 46164 - 1. OCLC 35651121. Also ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 46728 - 5. Scheffler, K. ; Hoernes, S. ; Schwark, L. ( July 2003 ). `` Global changes during Carboniferous -- Permian glaciation of Gondwana : Linking polar and equatorial climate evolution by geochemical proxies '' ( PDF ). Geology. 33 ( 7 ) : 605 -- 608. Bibcode : 2003Geo... 31... 605S. doi : 10.1130 / 0091 - 7613 ( 2003 ) 031 < 0605 : GCDCGO > 2.0.CO ; 2. Retrieved 10 September 2017. External links Houseman, Greg. `` Animation of the dispersal of Gondwanaland ''. University of Leeds. Retrieved 21 October 2008. Barend Köbben ; Colin Reeves ; Maarten de Wit. `` Interactive animation of the breakup of Gondwana ''. ITC, University of Twente. Retrieved 16 October 2017. 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Question: when did pangaea split into laurasia and gondwana
Answer: Mid-Jurassic when the Central Atlantic opened