Located on the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec, near Carleton-sur-Mer, Miguasha National Park is a palaeontological site, considered to be the world's most outstanding illustration of the Devonian Period known as the 'Age of Fishes'. 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, a crucial time of the evolution of life on Earth.
The coastal cliffs are Upper Devonian strata of grey sedimentary rock. They are composed of alternating layers of sandstone and shale. Some of the fish, fauna, and spore fossils found at Miguasha are rare and ancient species. The fossil site was first discovered in 1842, by Abraham Gesner (1797-1864), a geologist and medical doctor, and a pioneer in the petroleum industry.
About the stamp
The stamp is part of the series Beneficial Insects, about which I wrote here.
References
Miguasha National Park - Wikipedia
Miguasha National Park - UNESCO official website
Sender: Jason Thomson (direct swap)
Sent from Ottawa (Ontario / Canada), on 07.08.2015
Photo: Peter McMahon
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