Miguasha Provincial Park (French: Parc national de Miguasha) is a protected area near Carleton-sur-Mer on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, Canada. The Government of Quebec created the park in 1985. In 1999, it was named a World Heritage Site because of its many fossils, which show an important time in the history of life on Earth. Other names for this site include the Miguasha Fossil Site, the Bay of Escuminac Fossil Site, the Upper Devonian Escuminac Formation, and the Hugh-Miller Cliffs. It is sometimes called "Scaumenac Bay" or "Scaumenac Bay P.Q." on fossil specimens.

Miguasha Natural History Museum

The museum shows displays about the fossils and the study of ancient life found in the park. The museum's collection has more than 9,000 specimens of fossil fish and plants.

Geology

The coastal cliffs are made of grey sedimentary rock from the Upper Devonian period, which is part of the Escuminac Formation. These rocks are composed of layers that alternate between sandstone and shale, and they are between 350 and 375 million years old. The area has mainly birch, aspen, and fir forests today.

Palaeontological significance

Some of the fish, animal, and spore fossils discovered at Miguasha are very old and uncommon. For example, Spermasporites is believed to be one of the earliest types of seed plants on Earth.