Gondwana was a supercontinent that existed from the Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic (about 180 million years ago), with the final stages of a breakup, including the opening of the Drake Passage separating South America and Antarctica occurring during the Eocene.
Gondwana was not considered a supercontinent by the earliest definition, since the landmasses of Baltica, Laurentia, and Siberia were separated from it. Gondwana dominated the southern hemisphere for more than 400 million years. It took until 1861 for us to recognize the clues in our modern placement of rocks and fossils
