Snapshots through time
Showcase some of the chapters in Australia's fossil history.
- The geological time scale
- The Triassic Period (251 - 205 million years ago)
- The Jurassic Period (205 - 141 million years ago)
- The Cretaceous Period (146-65 million years ago)
- The Eocene Epoch (55-38 million years ago)
- The early Miocene Epoch (23.3-16.3 million years ago)
- The late Miocene Epoch (10.4-5 million years ago)
- The Pliocene Epoch (5-1.6 million years ago)
- The Pleistocene Epoch (1.6 million-10,000 years ago)
- The Holocene Epoch (10,000 years ago to the present)
Marsupials
Marsupials have inhabited Australia for over 50 million years.
Reptiles
Flying and marine reptiles, pliosaurs, turtles, crocodiles, and snakes.
Extinction events and processes
The processes and events that led to extinctions over time.
Placental Mammals
Native placental mammals are mostly represented by bats and rodents.
Birds
Giant 'thunderbirds', raptors and even flamingoes.
Dinosaurs
Australia, once part of Gondwana, has a unique Dinosaur history.
Monotremes
Monotremes were once more diverse and widespread than now.
Fossils in our Collections
The Palaeontology Collection contains some of our greatest treasures.
