Discovering Australia's evolutionary past
Useful sites
Proteaceae – Australian plants (Australian Museum Online, Australia)
Provides an introduction to the Proteaceae family.
Proteaceae illustrations (Australian National Botanic Gardens, Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources)
Contains a series of illustrations of plants in the Proteaceae family.
Drifting proteas or continents? Historical biogeography of the Proteaceae (Public lecture series 2006–07, Australian Academy of Science)
Transcript of a lecture given by Dr Peter Weston. Discusses the biogeographical history of the Proteaceae.
The story of Gondwana (Australian Plants Society, Australia)
Provides a geologic timeline of Earth and Gondwana.
Continental drift and evolution (Biology at University of Cincinnati Clermont College, USA)
Contains information on the evolution of species and continental drift.
Continental drift animations (Paleomap Project USA)
Provides links to interactive animations and descriptions of continental drift.
Understanding evolution (University of California Museum of Paleontology, USA)
Welcome to Evolution 101!
Provides information on the patterns and mechanisms of evolution.
Phylogenetic systematics, a.k.a. evolutionary trees
Provides information on the use and construction of evolutionary trees.
Bone diggers (Nova, USA)
Evolution down under
Answers the question 'How did Australia come to be marsupial heaven?'
The extinction enigma
Discusses reasons behind the extinction of 'megafauna' in Australia.
Australia's vanished beasts
Contains illustrations of 'megafauna' that lived in Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Oldest fossil vertebrate embryo (The Science Show, 31 May 2008)
Announces the Australian discovery of the oldest fossilised vertebrate embryo.
OZ fossils
Explores the evolution of life in Australia using fossils.
Fossils from the final frontier (Features, 16 August 2007)
Found! World's oldest tree (News in Science, 19 April 2007)
Ediacara – Australia'a own geological period (Catalyst, 9 November 2006)
Evolution River (Catalyst, 2 November 2006)
Proteas hitched a ride as Gondwana split (News in Science, 20 September 2006)
Tropics the hot spot for speedy evolution (News in Science, 2 May 2006)
The pine that time forgot (Features, 19 May 2005)
Turning of the Fagus (Scribbly Gum, 1 April 2000)
Basic botany (Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, UK)
Studying plant diversity – plant classification
Provides information on the classification of plants.
Plant names
Explains the naming of plants.
Plant structure – leaves, stems and roots
Provides diagrams of the leaves, roots and stems systems of plants.
Flower structure and variations
Contains information about the functions and structures of flowers.
Page updated July 2008.