South Australian Museum - North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000

A window to the rich natural heritage of South Australia

Ediacara: The Origin of Animals provides a view of the preparatory work on fossil material brought in from field trips and site "digs". Rare and unique fossils from the Flinders Ranges area are showcased in this stunning gallery.

Dickinsonia

This preliminary exhibit features:

• the Ripples of Time, a fossil seafloor displayed as a wall preserving hundreds of tiny specimens of Dickinsonia;
• the largest known fossil animal of its time, a doormat-sized specimen of Dickinsonia rex – truly the king of early marine animals, 550 million years old;
• the world's oldest known fossil chordate, from the Ediacara biota of the Flinders Ranges, the tiny, 6 cm-long fossil is the body mould of the first known animal from the phylum to which vertebrates belong. It was donated to the Museum in October 2003;
• the oldest known sponge and coral reefs, displayed as polished slabs are from the Flinders Ranges;
• a giant, back-lit image of Wilpena Pound at sunset, the icon of the Flinders Ranges. This is the most distinctive landform in South Australia preserving the oldest fossil animals within its layered rocks.

For more information, visit the Fossil Gallery

Download the brochure guide to South Australia's Fossil Discovery Trail below:

 South Australia's Fossil Discovery Trail Brochure Guide

The museum would like to acknowledge the generous gift of Elizabeth Simpson, which greatly assisted with the development of the Fossil Gallery.