 Some millions of years after the seamounts were raised above the ocean, its first geckos, lizards and insects as well as plants came to the archipelago, one possible clue was that were rafted from the African mainland when the salinity of the ocean was lower.The archipelago had a couple of large volcanic eruptions recorded through geology including Praia Grande 4.5 million years ago, São Vicente possibly modern day Porto Grande 300,000 years ago, Topo da Coroa 200,000 years ago and the last one east of modern-day Fogo 73,000 years ago that inundated coastal Santiago Island and possibly Brava and a part of Barlavento Islands.During the Last Ice Age, the sea level dropped to about 130 meters below its current level, its islands were slightly larger with the Northwest Island, present day Santo Antão was a kilometer northwest of the island, Boa Vista and Maio were one single island, and there was another island named Nola (Ilha da Nola) northwest of Santo Antão that was about 80–90 metres tall.