The course offers an overview of life through time with a focus on Australian prehistory. The nature, functional morphology and evolutionary history of invertebrates, vertebrates and plants are presented in the context of Australia's evolving habitats and climates. Processes and places of fossilisation, evolution, time scales, approaches to assessing relationships and the plate tectonic history of the continent of Australia are important components of this overview of the history of Australia's unique biota. Practical work on the most important groups of fossils is an essential part of the course.

Note: Up to 4 days of fieldwork at selected fossil sites will be part of the course and students will incur some personal costs.