Gondwana Gondwana Gondwana (),(or Gondwanaland), was a supercontinent that existed from the Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) until the Carboniferous (about 320 million years ago). It was formed by the accretion of several cratons. Eventually, Gondwana became the largest piece of continental crust of the Paleozoic Era, covering an area of about . During the Carboniferous, it merged with Euramerica to form a larger supercontinent called Pangaea. Gondwana (and Pangaea) gradually broke up during the Mesozoic Era. The remnants of Gondwana make up about two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and the Indian Subcontinent. The
Gondwana 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 on landmasses then 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 and remained a lifeless