Global palaeogeographic reconstructions for the early Cambrian can be const
rained by the faunal distribution. The inferred pathways of archaeocyathan
migrations coupled with the application of Jaccard's similarity coefficient
to total local faunas supports the palaeogeographic reconstructions sugges
ting the existence of East and West Gondwana in the early Cambrian and rift
ing of Laurentia from Australian-Antarctic margin of East Gondwana (SWEAT h
ypothesis). A drift, of suspect terranes provides some further constraints
for the understanding of the palaeozoogeography. The delayed appearance of
Siberian archaeocyath assemblages in the suitable facies of Central Asian t
erranes was due to the restriction of these terranes to East Gondwana. The
total combination of tectonic, facies, and palaeomagnetic data suggests tha
t these fragments were drifted from East Gondwana to Siberia during the ear
ly Cambrian.