Miguasha Provincial Park

This area has several fossils of the ancestors of the first four-legged, air-breathing terrestrial organisms. The Miguasha Provincial Park has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the world’s most beautiful places. Five of the six extinct species can be found in the 370 million-year-old Escuminac Formation.

Important Facts About Miguasha Provincial Park

• Miguasha Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Internationally acclaimed Miguasha is located in the heart of the city.
• Nearby, there is a protected area known as Miguasha National Park.
• Miguasha National Park is located in southern Colorado’s Miguasha Range of the Andes Mountains.
• Miguasha National Park is home to a national park and area near Carleton-sur-Mer.

On Canada’s eastern coast lies the Miguasha Provincial Park, where the fossil-rich Escuminac Formation can be found. This rock formation preserved fossils from the Devonian period exceptionally well. The fish, crabs, and vegetation that call Miguasha home date back 370 million years near the area near Carleton-sur-Mer.

In Miguasha Provincial Park, the world’s premier vertebrate fossil deposit, fossils best reflect the Devonian period, sometimes known as the “Age of Fishes.” Sarcopterygian tetrapod animals were found at the site, and the well-preserved sarcopterygian fish fossils are their descendants.

The Heritage Value of the Park

This 87.3-hectare park was conceived as a response to a unique rock formation and a fossil-rich wall that faces Lake Ontario. A reef system is required to protect beaches from erosion so that tide-moved fossils can be recovered. Over 13,000 fossils in the park serve as evidence of its scientific rigour. Soft tissues and 3D models can be found in some of these well-preserved fossils. This site is a prime example of Devonian fossils because of the abundance and high quality of its fossils.

Safety and Control Standards

Quebec’s Park Act and 1985 Regulation on forming Parc National de Miguasha conservation park status are protected (1978). A part of Quebec’s national park system, Miguasha National Park is solely responsible for safeguarding and conserving its territory. Legal and institutional safeguards have protected the site’s long-term vitality for present and future generations.

Oil, gas, and mineral exploitation are outlawed in a 775-hectare region surrounding the national park due to a provincial decision made in 1990. Quebec’s Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife, sworn in in 2004, must first approve any development in this buffer zone.

By park procedures, the park’s paleontological and environmental resources are well-managed. In addition to Parks Act enforcement and on-the-ground activities like excavation and patrol, these management measures assist paleontological study.

Mineral prospecting and mining, as well as unauthorised fossil extraction from the site, will be closely monitored for the foreseeable future. We’ll keep a watchful eye on erosion and global warming.

One of La Baie-des-most Chaleurs Park’s most stunning fossil discoveries is preserved in a granite outcropping. Known as the “Age of Fish” fossils, the Devonian fish fossils of Miguasha National Park are a rare find. A 370-million-year-old Miguasha Fish species were identified in this area. It has been discovered that lobe-finned fish and other four-legged, air-breathing terrestrial species originated in this region.

History and Exhibits

An early pioneer of the petroleum industry, Abraham Gesner, found the fossil site in 1842. Gesner’s finds sparked a flood of prehistoric artefacts that flooded the British and Royal Scottish museums. There have been rumours that in the 1970s, a group of American businessmen had plans to purchase the fossil-rich territory. By buying a piece of land in 1985, the Quebec government prevented the privatisation of property. Because of this, more than a hundred individual landowners have agreed to conserve the historic site. Approximately 5,000 species of fossils have been found and documented in one area. According to UNESCO, it was a significant element of the world’s cultural heritage in the same year.

Some Mi’kmaq hunters and fishers came from the Maritime regions to hunt and fish. In the Mi’kmaq language, the name of Yellowknife State Park’s tallest mountain, Miguasha, is used.

Landscape

The Restigouche River’s tributary, the Baie des Chaleurs, flows north into the river. There are fossil cliffs outside the park’s boundaries that visitors can observe.

Named after these formations, two geological layers are found on the cliff. Fossils from coral and shells can be found in this lovely stone mosaic. Fossils are preserved in sedimentary rock formations like sandstone and claystone in the site’s earliest and rudimentary form.

Species of Animals and Plants

There were 167 new plant species discovered between 1997 and 1999. The park contains nearly every plant genus.

All four of the world’s rare orchid species can be found in this park, which is a natural habitat for indigenous and endangered plant species (Cypripedium calceolus, Corallorhiza trifida, Corallorhiza maculata and Habenaria Hyperborea).

The climatic system of the Parc national de Miguasha enters the region via Chaleur Bay, and this location can only be reached by Route 132 through the Nouvelle or Escuminac exits.

Conclusion: 

An exceptional example of the Devonian Period known as “The Age of Fishes” may be found at Miguasha National Park, a palaeontological site in south-eastern Quebec. Escuminac Formation, which dates back 370 million years, comprises five of the six fossil fish taxa that are often associated with this epoch. There were the most and best-preserved fossils of the lobe-finned fishes that gave birth to the earliest four-legged, air-breathing terrestrial vertebrates, the tetrapods, found in this area, which provides it with historical importance.