Mistaken Point

Map

Mistaken Point: A Window into the Dawn of Complex Life

The Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, situated at the southeastern tip of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula, is a unique and significant location that offers a glimpse into the early stages of life on Earth. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016, this remote and rugged coastal region holds the oldest known assemblage of large fossils, providing valuable insights into the transition from simple microbial life to the emergence of complex organisms during the Ediacaran Period.

More to come…

UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

This fossil site is located at the south-eastern tip of the island of Newfoundland, in eastern Canada. It consists of a narrow, 17 km-long strip of rugged coastal cliffs. Of deep marine origin, these cliffs date to the Ediacaran Period (580-560 million years ago), representing the oldest known assemblages of large fossils anywhere. These fossils illustrate a watershed in the history of life on earth: the appearance of large, biologically complex organisms, after almost three billion years of micro-dominated evolution.  

Encyclopedia Record: Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve

Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve is a wilderness area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located at the southeastern tip of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The reserve is home to the namesake Mistaken Point Formation, which contains one of the most diverse and well-preserved collections of Precambrian fossils in the world. Ediacaran fossils discovered at the site constitute the oldest known remnants of multicellular life on Earth.

Read more on Wikipedia