Ediacara Biota research
Ediacara fossils are unique as the oldest large and complex organisms on Earth, preserved as impressions in sandstone.
Palaeontology
Palaeontology is the study of ancient life from its fossil record in rocks and the genomic record of living organisms.
Research on fossils at the South Australian Museum focuses on fossils of organisms spanning more than 600 million years of Earth's history, and subfossils of the Holocene Epoch.
Cambrian fossil research
The Cambrian Period (541–485 million years ago or ‘Ma’) represents a crucial phase in the history of the Earth, as it brought the sudden appearance of many animal groups showing unprecedented anatomies and behaviour.
Molecular clock research
The genetic differences between living animals can be used to infer relationships between groups, as well as estimate timing of evolutionary divergence, using “molecular clock” approaches.
Mesozoic Era fossil research
The great inland seas that covered up to one half of Australia around 110 million years ago preserved evidence of marine life at the time of the dinosaurs.
Cenzoic Era fossil research
During the Cenozoic Era, when Australia broke free of Antarctica and drifted north, the southern coasts were flooded by the ocean.
GALLERY
Redlichia rex, the largest trilobite from the Early Cambrian Emu Bay Biota of Kangaroo Island.
Emucaris fava, a newly discovered arthropod preserving its appendages. Early Cambrian, Emu Bay Biota of Kangaroo Island.