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Evolution is the natural process that makes sense of seemingly strange fossils that are found in ancient rocks, of the living things all around us and, indeed, of ourselves. Evolution explains how, and why, all life today shares so many similarities, originating in a distant common ancestor, and how immense complexity and huge diversity have arisen from tiny and simple beginnings more than three billion years ago.
The Fossils and Evolution gallery highlights some of this evidence, from the similar arrangement of bones in all mammal skeletons, to the sequence of fossils found in different layers of rocks.
Along the way evolution has brought about some remarkable creatures that are on display in the gallery – from dwarf elephants, to giant armadillos, and one of the largest and most fierce bony fishes ever to swim the world’s oceans!
Image caption: Bulldog Fish head - the business end of Xiphactinus, one of the largest and most fearsome fish ever to have swam the world’s oceans 80 million years ago.
Exhibition information
This exhibition is on display in area 23 of the Nature Zone and is free to attend (download the museum map, PDF 290KB)
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