Miguasha National Park
Miguasha National Park
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.
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Parc national de Miguasha
Situé dans la région du Québec méridional, sur la côte sud-ouest de la péninsule gaspésienne, le parc national de Miguasha est un site paléontologique remarquable, considéré comme la meilleure illustration de la période du dévonien ou « âge des poissons ». Datée de 370 millions d'années, la formation d'Escuminac, dévonien supérieur, renferme cinq des six groupes de poissons fossiles associés à cette période. L'importance de ce site tient au fait qu'on y trouve la plus grande concentration de spécimens fossiles de poissons à nageoires charnues – en état exceptionnel de conservation – qui sont les ancêtres des premiers vertébrés terrestres respirant de l'air : les tétrapodes.
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
منتزه ميغواشا الوطني
يقع منتزه ميغواشا الوطني في منطقة الكيبيك الجنوبي، على ضفاف الساحل الجنوبي الغربي لشبه جزيرة غاسبيه، ويشكّل موقعاً إحاثياً هائلاً لعلّه النموذج الأفضل عن العصر الديفوني أو "عصر الأسماك". وتضم سلسلة الإيسكوميناك، من العصر الديفوني الأعلى، والتي ترقى إلى 370 مليون سنة، خمس من أصل ست فصائل من الأسماك الأحفورية المرتبطة بتلك الحقبة. وتكمن أهمية هذا الموقع في وجود أكبر تجمّع للعيّنات الأحفورية من الأسماك ذات الزعانف اللحمية-التي لا تزال في حالة إستثنائية- وتمثّل أسلاف الفقريات الأرضية الأولى التي تتنشق الهواء وهي الرباعية القوائم.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
米瓜莎公园
米瓜莎古公园坐落在魁北克东南部加斯普半岛(the Gaspé peninsula)南部的海岸上，是一处古生物学遗址，被认为是世界上关于泥盆纪“鱼类时代”(Age of Fishes)最著名的化石遗址。晚泥盆世的鱼化石共有六种，这里地层中就有五种，可追溯到3.7亿年前。公园的重要性在于这里有大量保存完好的鱼石螈的化石标本。鱼石螈是第一种进化为四条腿、呼吸空气的陆地脊椎动物四足动物。
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Провинциальный парк Мигуаша
В юго-восточной части провинции Квебек на южном побережье полуострова Гаспе расположена уникальная местность, предоставляющая редчайшие палеонтологические свидетельства девонского периода, известного как «Эра рыб». Имеющие возраст 370 млн. лет отложения верхнего девона содержат остатки пяти групп ископаемых рыб – из шести, относящихся к данному периоду. Главное значение этих находок состоит в том, что они включают самое значительное число хорошо сохранившихся окаменелых остатков кистеперых рыб, от которых произошли тетраподы – первые наземные позвоночные.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Parque Nacional de Miguasha
Situado en la región del Quebec meridional, en la costa suroeste de la península gaspesiana, el parque de Miguasha es un importante sitio paleontológico, considerado como el mejor ejemplo del período devónico o "Edad de los Peces". La formación de Escuminac, que data del Devónico Superior (370 millones años atrí¡s), contiene cinco de los seis grupos de peces fósiles de este período. La importancia de este sitio radica en que posee la mayor concentración de especímenes fósiles de peces con aletas carnosas, en un excelente estado de conservación. Esos peces son los antecesores de los primeros vertebrados terrestres que respiraban aire: los tetrí¡podos.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
ミグアシャ国立公園
カナダ東部、ケベック州とニュー・ブランズウィック州に接し、リスティゴーシュ川の北岸、ケベック東南のガスペ半島の南岸に位置する州立公園。長さ8km、幅1kmのこの公園は、脊椎動物の化石を含む岩層を保護するために1985年につくられた。ミグアシャの化石は、特にデボン期の魚類が重要である。“魚類の時代”と呼ばれるこの時期の8化石群のうち、6化石群がミグアシャに集中している。source: NFUAJ
Nationaal park Miguasha
Het nationaal park Miguasha ligt in het zuidoosten van Quebec aan de zuidelijke kust van het schiereiland Gaspé. De paleontologische omgeving van het nationaal park wordt beschouwd als ’s werelds meest bijzondere illustratie van het Devoon, de geologische periode die bekendstaat als het ‘tijdperk van de vissen’. De Escuminac rotsformatie uit het Boven-Devoon dateert van zo’n 370 miljoen jaar geleden en bevat zes van de acht fossiele vissoorten uit deze periode. De vondst is belangrijk omdat er best bewaard gebleven fossielen van kwastvinnige vissen gevonden zijn, de voorlopers van de eerst viervoetige, gewervelde landdieren met longen, de tetrapoden.
Source: unesco.nl
Outstanding Universal Value
Brief Synthesis
Located in Canada, on the east coast of Quebec, Miguasha National Park protects and presents the Escuminac Formation, a rock formation with a rich fossil heritage recognized for the large number of exceptionally well-preserved fossil specimens it contains which are representative of the Devonian period. The fish, invertebrate and plant fossils at Miguasha bear witness to life as it existed on Earth 370 million years ago.
Criterion (viii): Miguasha National Park is the most outstanding fossil site in the world from the standpoint of its representation of vertebrate life and its illustration of the Devonian period known as the Age of Fishes. The site is of paramount importance because it has the largest number and the best-preserved fossil specimens in the world of sarcopterygian fish, which gave rise to the first four-legged, air-breathing terrestrial vertebrates—the tetrapods.
Integrity
Covering an area of 87.3 hectares, the park preserves the integrity of the fossil cliff and the Escuminac Formation. Protection of the beach area strengthens this integrity by permitting the recovery of fossils that fall from the cliff and are moved by the tides. With some 13,000 specimens, the park’s national fossil collection also demonstrates the integrity of this scientific heritage. A large number of these fossils are exceptionally well preserved, with complete specimens, 3D specimens and fossilized soft tissues. The number of preserved specimens and their quality adds to the representativeness of the Devonian period and the uniqueness of the site.
Protection and management requirements
Protection of the integrity of this heritage is guaranteed by Miguasha’s conservation park status, established by the Quebec government’s Regulation respecting the establishment of parc national de Miguasha (1985) and by the provincial Parks Act (1978). As a member of the Quebec parks network, Miguasha National Park is the sole owner of the area that it is dedicated to protect and conserve. This legislative and institutional protection ensures the integrity of the site for the benefit of present and future generations.
In 1990, the provincial mining act decree was issued to prohibit oil, gas and mineral exploration in a 775-hectare peripheral area surrounding the park. In 2004, the province changed the status of this buffer zone to a State Reserve, which means that no development can be undertaken there without the prior authorization of the Quebec Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife.
The park has adopted work tools to ensure effective and informed management of Miguasha’s paleontological and environmental heritage. These management tools provide a framework for paleontological research, enforcement of the Parks Act, field operations, excavations, laboratory and collection work, patrols, the park’s education mission and its financial management.
Over the longer term, special attention will be given to the monitoring of modifications and additions proposed to the property and its surroundings, particularly potential mineral exploration and mining activities; illegal extraction of fossils from the site; climate change; and erosion.
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