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  1. Homepage
  2. Discover & Learn
  3. Australia over time

Australia over time

Learn about our evolving landscape, Australian megafauna and other extinct animals, and how we use fossils to relate the animals of the past with those of today.

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Bird specimen under glass display

Australia’s extinct animals

Learning about Australia’s extinct fauna helps us to create links through time that relate the animals of the past with those of today.

Extinction theories
Fact sheets
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Diprotodon

Megafauna

Megafauna are large animals such as elephant, mammoth, rhinocerous and Australia's own diprotodon.

Extinction theory
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Palaeo maps

Evolving landscape

Over thousands of millions of years, continents, oceans and mountain ranges have moved vast distances both vertically and horizontally.

Geological time scale
Continent formation
Discover more

Trilobite fossil

What are fossils?

The word ‘palaeontology’ refers to the study of ancient life. It is derived from the Greek words palaios (ancient) and logos (study). Fossils form the basis of this science.

Fossils form the basis of palaeontology
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Canowindra Fish Fossils

Fossil sites of Australia

Fossils are a part of our natural heritage and while the vast majority of fossils found by amateur collectors are worth very little in monetary terms, they may be important scientifically.

Excavation sites
Palaeontology
Learn more

Mineral specimen

Earth science

The Mineralogy and Palaeontology collections include rocks, minerals, gemstones and fossils, and reveal how the earth was formed.

Shaping the Earth
Minerals
Fossils
Discover more


  • Palaeontology collection

    Ancient animals and plant fossils.
    Learn more
  • Mineralogy Collection

    Study of rocks & minerals.
    Learn more
  • Australian Museum Research Institute

    Scientific discovery & conservation of our collections.
    Find out more

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New Bobtail squid named in top ten marine species for 2019

Bobtail Squid discovered in Japan by Australian Museum scientists and international collaborators

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Coral diversity, Great Barrier Reef

Climate change resources

A collection of resources has been assembled to provide the latest information on the Australian Museum’s action on climate change and how you can contribute.

Blogs
Podcasts
Publications
Discover more

Balls Pyramid expedition March 2017

Australian Museum Turns ‘Inside Out’ To Share Virtual Content

Content Curated for the Curious includes education, citizen science, virtual tours and exhibitions

15 April 2020
Read More

Flesh flies - Family Sarcophagidae

Decomposition: fly life cycle and development times

The presence of insects in a corpse is a critical clue towards estimating the time of death for bodies dead for longer periods of time.

Maggots
Flies species
Find out more

Torresitrachia sp

Biodiversity Hotspot: Treasures of the Kimberley

The north-western Australian Kimberley is one of fifteen Australian biodiversity hotspots. Its coast boasts an archipelago that comprises several hundred large, and thousands of much smaller islands.

Kimberley Island Survey
Discover more

A Whitetip reef shark

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest system of coral reefs, mangrove and estuarine environments, and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park covers an area of about 348,700㎢.

Discover more

iE014238+04

Boomerangs: Which One Returns?

Learn about the basic distinction in defining a hunting boomerang.

Discover more

Southwest Pacific Expedition 2017

Biodiversity - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

This is an extensive revision of Dan Faith's 2008 entry on Biodiversity for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Concepts of Biodiversity
Discover more

Autopsy table

Virtual autopsy

Follow a human autopsy process from start to finish including an external examination, opening the body, viewing internal organs, removing the organs and weighing them, removing the brain, replacing all organs and closing the body.

Read more

Fotoware Image

Common and Unusual Identifications - Reptiles

Common and Unusual Identifications - Reptiles

Discover more

Parmellops perspicuus

Land Snails of Lord Howe Island - Australian Museum Publish First Ever Field Guide

Dr. Isabel Hyman and Dr. Frank Köehler have released the first comprehensive, illustrated field guide to the land snails of Lord Howe Island.

Read more

Adult blowfly mouth

Corpse fauna

Many kinds of organisms live by feeding on dead bodies. In the process, their activities result in the decomposition of the body and the recycling of nutrients.

Bacteria
Predatory beetles
Flies & wasps
Learn more

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The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum stands.
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We acknowledge Elders past, present and emerging.
This website may contain names, images and voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

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Photo of two painted shields

The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum stands.

Image credit: gadigal yilimung (shield) made by Uncle Charles Chicka Madden