Examine remarkable fossil evidence of long-ago events in the Last Impressions gallery.
From 200-million-year-old wave ripples on beach sand to a petrified tree stump, dinosaur footprints, and a giant ammonite, the past is imprinted on all of these gallery specimens.
Star specimens and exhibits
- sedimentary rock shaped by Earth's moving crust and shifting continents
- a calcareous deposit called the Sunday Stone that tells the story of the working lives and hardships of miners in the 1800s
- agate grown in the gas bubbles of molten lava
- lichens that live for 10,000 years
- and bamboo that grows a metre a day
Explore the galleries with the Museum map
Find out how to get around with the Museum map. There are four zones to discover.
Discover: fossils
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NewsThe first people in Australia likely feasted on the eggs of giant ducks
Genyornis newtoni may have become extinct after humans stole and ate its eggs.
27 May 2022 -
NewsDinosaurs may have evolved from warm-blooded ancestor
Some dinosaurs, such as stegosaurs, may have needed to bask in the sun to keep their body temperature constant.
25 May 2022 -
DinosaursPalaeoart: The history of bringing dinosaurs back to life
How we depict extinct animals has changed significantly over time, as artists keep up with the latest scientific discoveries.
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Science news'Ghost' fossils reveal how oceans could be affected by climate change
Plankton which help feed the ocean, lock away carbon dioxide and even influence the weather may not be as vulnerable to climate change as feared.
19 May 2022
Life recorded in fossils
Explore fossils from the Museum's collection in an online exhibition, a collaboration between the Museum and Google Arts & Culture.