Mauritia was a Precambrian microcontinent that was situated between India and Madagascar until their separation about 70 million years ago.
Being initially attached to the Indian continent, Mauritia separated from it about 60 million years ago and further fragmented into a ribbon-like structure as the mid-ocean ridge jumped several times.
The jumps of the mid-ocean ridge are thought to have been caused of its interaction with the Réunion hotspot as it passed under the West margin of the Indian continent and then under Mauritia.
[1] Evidence for Mauritia's existence consists of detrital zircon found in rock (6-million-year-old trachyte) on Mauritius.
[4] Analyses of the zircon crystals produced dates between 660 and 1,970 million years and are considerably older than the 8.9-million-year-old basalt that constitutes the oldest formations on the island.