There was a time when the great southern landmass wasn’t just covered in ice-glaciers and penguins. It was filled with forests, flowers and all sorts of animal species. It even had a completely different climate.

According to fossil records found below the ice-caps, the icy continent was once a very hot place. In fact, it got so warm that the climate became tropical, like the one we see today around the Equator. So, how did we end up here?

TIMESTAMPS:
A brief trip in time 0:20
The great discovery 1:02
Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum 2:07
There was more than just vegetation 3:00
Notiolofos 4:08
the Antarctodon 4:57
Changes began happening slowly 6:12
Global cooling 7:25
Australia and South America thrived 9:52