or Gondwanaland
Hypothetical former supercontinent in the Southern Hemisphere, which included modern South America, Africa, southern Europe, India, Australia, and much of the Middle East and Antarctica.
The concept that the continents were at one time joined was first set forth in detail by Alfred Wegener in 1912. He envisioned a single great landmass, Pangea , which supposedly began to separate late in the Triassic Period . Subsequent workers distinguished between a southern landmass, Gondwana, and Laurasia to the north. See also continental drift .