Eventually Antarctica, long a lush, forested preserve, began to separate from Australia, bringing an end to the last vestige of the supercontinent Gondwana. As the southernmost continent began to grow an ice cap and cooler and dryer climates spread across the globe, the Eocene ended with a chill 34 million years ago. This transition, from the long-standing greenhouse climate to a more modern climate with ice at the poles, caused a major turnover in animal life.
