Mistaken Point
CanadaParks Canada Agency
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
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Description
Located on the rugged coastline of the Avalon Peninsula, Mistaken Point and its Extension Ecological Reserves contain the oldest evidence known of early multi-cellular life on the planet. Here, Ediacaran fossils of an age estimated at 560-575 million years have been found in the rocks of two ecological reserves. Thirty species of soft-bodied animals have been preserved in situ by volcanic ash falls that covered the sea floor. Many thousands of complete specimens have been preserved on exposed bedding surfaces, providing the earliest and most complete record knowing of Eliacaran multi-cellular life. The fossils at Mistaken Point provide a window into the early colonization of the deep-sea floor.