Laurasia

American  

[law-rey-zhuh, -shuh] / lɔˈreɪ ʒə, -ʃə /

noun

Geology.

1. a hypothetical landmass in the Northern Hemisphere near the end of the Paleozoic Era: split apart to form North America and Eurasia.

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Laurasia British  

/ lɔːˈreɪʃə /

noun

1. one of the two ancient supercontinents produced by the first split of the even larger supercontinent Pangaea about 200 million years ago, comprising what are now North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia (excluding India) See also Gondwanaland Pangaea

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Laurasia Scientific  

/ lô-rā′zhə /

1. A supercontinent of the Northern Hemisphere made up of the landmasses that currently correspond to North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia (except India). According to the theory of plate tectonics, Laurasia separated from Pangaea at the end of the Paleozoic Era and broke up into the current continents in the middle of the Mesozoic Era.

2. Compare Gondwanaland

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Etymology

Origin of Laurasia

1930–35; blend of Laurentian ( def. 2 ) and Eurasia

Example Sentences

Earlier theories suggested that Podonominae originated in northern Gondwana before spreading northward into Laurasia, the ancient landmass that included today's Northern Hemisphere continents.

From Science Daily • Oct. 15, 2025

It’s the late Jurassic Period in the super continent of Laurasia, some 85 million years into the reign of the dinosaurs.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 15, 2024

Geologists think these slabs are ancient remnants of seafloor from the Tethys Ocean, which was located between the supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana more than 200 million years ago.

From Scientific American • Jun. 26, 2023

Not long after the dinosaurs went extinct, the Tethys Sea, which once separated the ancient supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana, was the peak of biodiversity in the world’s oceans.

From New York Times • Oct. 17, 2018

Although textbooks give confident-looking representations of ancient landmasses with names like Laurasia, Gondwana, Rodinia, and Pangaea, these are sometimes based on conclusions that don’t altogether hold up.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson