Miguasha National Park World Heritage Site

Official name

Miguasha National Park | UNESCO

Country

Canada | Map

Continent

North America

Location

Gaspé Peninsula, Province of Quebec
48.1050° Lat, -66.3530° Lon | Map

Code

686

Time Zone

America/Toronto (EST, -0500)

Current Time

Category

Natural

Description

Inscribed 1999. 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.