What does the * (asterisk) symbol do near a function argument and how to use that in others scenarios?

I am using Ruby on Rails 3 and I would like to know what means the presence of a * operator near a function argument and to understand its usages in others scenarios.

Example scenario (this method was from the Ruby on Rails 3 framework):

def find(*args)
  return to_a.find { |*block_args| yield(*block_args) } if block_given?

  options = args.extract_options!

  if options.present?
    apply_finder_options(options).find(*args)
  else
    case args.first
    when :first, :last, :all
      send(args.first)
    else
      find_with_ids(*args)
    end
  end
end