History of Earth took place during the Carboniferous period (359–299 Ma) and resulted in the formation of the last supercontinent, Pangaea. By 180 Ma, Pangaea broke up into Laurasia and Gondwana. The rate of the evolution of life as recorded by fossils accelerated in the Cambrian period (542–488 Ma). The sudden emergence of many new species, phyla, and forms in this period is called the Cambrian Explosion. The biological fomenting in the Cambrian Explosion was unpreceded before and since that time. Whereas the Ediacaran life forms appear yet primitive and not easy to put in any modern group, at the end of the
Gondwana Rainforests Gondwana Rainforests The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, formerly known as the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves, are the most extensive area of subtropical rainforest in the world. Collectively, the rainforests are a World Heritage Site with fifty separate reserves totalling from to Brisbane. The Gondwana Rainforests are so-named because the fossil record indicates that when Gondwana existed it was covered by rainforests containing the same kinds of species that are living today. Not all Gondwanan rainforests in Australia are located in the New South WalesQueensland region; the largest Gondwanan rainforest in Australia is located in Tasmania's Tarkine wilderness. The number of