South America, Arabia, Madagascar, India, Africa, Australia and Antarctica were once parts of the southern supercontinent called:

Gondwanaland (or Gondwana) was a huge southern supercontinent that included present-day South America, Africa, Arabia, Madagascar, the Indian subcontinent, Australia and Antarctica.

Origin of the name:

• The name comes from the Gondwana region of central India (the land of the Gond tribe).
• The Austrian geologist Eduard Suess named it in the late 19th century, because rock formations in this part of India matched those found on other southern continents.

Formation and break-up:

• Gondwana existed as a separate southern landmass for hundreds of millions of years.
• It became part of the larger supercontinent about 335 million years ago.
• When that supercontinent split, about 200 million years ago, it divided into a northern part, Laurasia, and a southern part, Gondwana.

From about 180 million years ago, Gondwana itself broke up. Africa and South America separated, opening the South Atlantic Ocean. India, Madagascar, Australia and Antarctica drifted apart.

India broke away from Madagascar about 88 million years ago and moved rapidly northward until it collided with Asia, raising the Himalayas.

Evidence of Gondwana:

• Fossils of the seed fern Glossopteris are found in South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica.
• Fossils of the reptile Lystrosaurus and the freshwater reptile Mesosaurus are found on continents now separated by oceans.
• Similar rock sequences and ancient glacial deposits are found on these continents.

Gondwana in India:

The Peninsular Plateau of India is part of the ancient, stable Gondwana landmass.

The "Gondwana coal" deposits of India, found in the Damodar, Mahanadi, Godavari and Son valleys, formed in this period from ancient plants. They account for most of India's coal reserves.

Laurasia:

The northern supercontinent, Laurasia, included North America, Europe and most of Asia (except India and Arabia).

Angaraland:

In some older textbooks, the northern landmass is also called Angaraland, after the Angara region of Siberia.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Laurasia and Angaraland were northern landmasses.
• ✗Rodinia was a much older supercontinent, about 1 billion years ago.