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

The Fossil Gallery contains spectacular skeletons made of opal as well as the famous Ediacaran fossils, which are some of the oldest animal fossils known.

The Fossil Gallery has three sections

Classes using the gallery will visit all of them.

They are;

1. Marine Cretaceous Fossils – including swimming reptiles and other marine creatures from Australia's inland sea during the time of dinosaurs. (But only two actual dinosaurs. Click here to find out why.)
2. Megafauna Fossils – showing large kangaroos, a huge diprotodon and other animals from tens of thousands of years ago.
3. Ediacaran Fossils – featuring the most ancient animals on Earth, these strange 'creatures of the slime' were first identified in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia.

Education programs utilise all three sections. Select an appropriate program for your students from the Article Index (above right).

Please note the Ediacaran section of this gallery will be closed from March 26th to mid-December for redevelopment.

Fossil Newsletters

As an introduction to this topic, students might like to read one of the museum's Fossil Newsletters. These are produced for Palaeontology Week each year, and contain information about local and international discoveries.

Back issues of Fossil Newsletters can be found here