GAARlandia

GAARlandia is a hypothesized land bridge proposed to have connected the Greater Antilles to South America around thirty-three million years ago by way of the now-submerged Aves Ridge west of the Lesser Antilles. Under this hypothesis animal and plant species colonized the Caribbean islands through dispersal and vicariance, with GAARlandia cited as the most prominent vicariance route, though the hypothesis remains debated: proponents point to studies of individual lineages while critics note the lack of direct geological evidence for a land bridge during that interval.