Continental Drift and Australian Avian Biogeography

Abstract

A review of the recent geological literature on continental drift substantiates the view that the final separations of the Gondwana continents took place in the late Cretaceous or early Tertiary. Some groups of Australian birds probably arose in and dispersed through Gondwanaland before the final break-up. These birds include penguins, rarites, galliforms and suboscines.