Anticosti

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Anticosti Island: A Palaeontological Treasure Trove

Anticosti Island, located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off the coast of Quebec, Canada, is a unique and significant geological site that offers a remarkable glimpse into Earth's ancient past. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023, Anticosti stands out as the most complete and best-preserved palaeontological record of the first mass extinction of animal life, which occurred approximately 447-437 million years ago.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

Situated on the island of Anticosti, the largest island in Quebec, this property is the most complete and best preserved palaeontological record of the first mass extinction of animal life, 447-437 million years ago. It contains the best preserved fossil record of marine life covering 10 million years of Earth history. The abundance, diversity, and exquisite preservation of the fossils are exceptional and allow for world-class scientific work. Thousands of large bedding surfaces allow the observation and study of shell and sometimes soft-bodied animals that lived on the shallow sea floor of an ancient tropical sea.

UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site

Criterion (viii): Anticosti is the best natural laboratory in the world for the study of fossils and sedimentary strata from the first mass extinction of life, at the end of the Ordovician period, which represents an important milestone in the history of Earth. It contains the largest stratigraphic record in thickness and the most complete, and best-preserved fossil record of marine life covering 10 million years of Earth history, from the Upper Ordovician to the Lower Silurian, 447-437 million years ago. The abundance, diversity, and state of conservation of the fossils are exceptional and allow for world-class scientific work. Thousands of large bedding surfaces allow the observation and study of shell and sometimes soft-bodied animals that lived on the shallow sea floor of an ancient tropical sea. These animals were buried by the continual passage of strong storms, which completely preserved the organisms and the ecological structure of the ancient marine communities. The exquisite preservation of the fossil shells allows the analysis of their geochemical composition to identify ancient climatic and oceanographic signals, and to study in depth the causes of the mass extinction of life at the end of the Ordovician period.

Encyclopedia Record: Anticosti Island

Anticosti is an island located between the Jacques Cartier and Honguedo Straits, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in L'Île-d'Anticosti (Municipality), Minganie MRC, Côte-Nord, Quebec, Canada.

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IUCN World Heritage Outlook

The 2025 Conservation Outlook on Anticosti reports the following assessment:

Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) · View assessment