Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

Australia separated from Antarctica about half way through the Palaeogene. Throughout the Palaeogene, the continent was mostly covered by rainforest, the composition of which changed to suit the fluctuating conditions as Australia moved north into different climatic latitudes, as well as the global trend towards polar cooling. It was during the Palaeogene that the marsupial fauna evolved from the ancestral stock that had been present in Gondwana prior to the separation. They were able to diversify to fill many niches appearing as the climate changed as the continent moved north, with the resulting changing environmental conditions.

The Palaeogene is comprised on 3 Epochs:

Sources & Further reading

1. Mary E. White, The Nature of Hidden Worlds, Reed, 1993