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Miguasha National Park 1
Miguasha National Park 2
Miguasha National Park 3
Miguasha National Park 4
Miguasha National Park 5
© UNESCO World Heritage Centre
UNESCO WHCNaturalInscribed 1999

Miguasha National Park

Overview

The palaeontological site of Miguasha National Park, in south-eastern Quebec on the southern coast of the Gaspé peninsula, is considered to be the world's most outstanding illustration of the Devonian Period known as the 'Age of Fishes'. Dating from 370 million years ago, the Upper Devonian Escuminac Formation represented here contains five of the six fossil fish groups associated with this period. Its significance stems from the discovery there of the highest number and best-preserved fossil specimens of the lobe-finned fishes that gave rise to the first four-legged, air-breathing terrestrial vertebrates – the tetrapods.

About Miguasha National Park

Miguasha Provincial Park is a protected area near Carleton-sur-Mer on the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec in Canada. Created in 1985 by the Government of Quebec, Miguasha was designated a World Heritage Site in 1999 in recognition of its wealth of fossils, which display a crucial time during the evolution of life on Earth. Other names for this site are the Miguasha Fossil Site, the Bay of Escuminac Fossil Site, the Upper Devonian Escuminac Formation, and the Hugh-Miller Cliffs. It is also sometimes referred to on fossil specimens as 'Scaumenac Bay' or 'Scaumenac Bay P.Q.'

Read more on Wikipedia

Selection Criteria

(viii)

Components(2 locations)

Details

Countries
Canada
ISO Codes
CA
Area
87.3 ha
Coordinates
48.1050, -66.3531
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Miguasha National Park

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Miguasha National Park

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Miguasha National Park