Escuminac Formation

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Escuminac Formation
Stratigraphic range: Devonian (Middle Frasnian) 385–374  Ma
Type Geological formation
Unit of Miguasha Group [1]
Underlies Bonaventure Formation [1]
Overlies Fleurant Formation [1]
Location
Region Quebec
Country Canada

The Escuminac Formation is a geologic formation in Quebec. It preserves fossils dating back to the Frasnian, in the Devonian period. [2] [3]

Contents

Description

Miguasha National Park is located within this formation along the estuary of the Restigouche River on the south coast of the Gaspé Peninsula. The fossil biota from the Park is thus referred to as the Miguasha biota. [1] The main Miguasha exposures were named the 'René Bureau Cliffs' after the geologist and paleontologist. [1] This formation is sufficiently rich that some material could be sacrificed for microanatomical and histological study through thin sectioning; this was done, among others, for the actinopterygian Cheirolepis , [4] the actinistian Miguashaia [5] and the tetrapodomorph Euthenopteron . [6]

The formation's depositional environment has been variously considered as lacustrine, estuarine, coastal marine or marine, though evidence from the fossil assemblage, stratigraphic and sedimentological setting, and geochemistry of the sedimentary rocks and bones suggests an estuarine interpretation is most fitting. [1]

Fossil content

Vertebrates

Acanthodians

Acanthodians
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Diplacanthus D. ellsi [1] A diplacanthiform.
D. horridus [1] A diplacanthiform.
Homalacanthus H. concinnus [1]
Triazeugacanthus T. affinis Miguasha, Quebec. [1] [7] Thousands of specimens representing multiple ontogenetic stages. [7]

Actinopterygians

Actinopterygians
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Cheirolepis C. canadensis [1]
Cheirolepis canadensis.jpg

Jawless fish

Jawless fish
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Endeiolepis E. aneri [1]
Escuminaspis E. laticeps [1]
Euphanerops E. longaevus Miguasha. [1] [8] Over 3,500 specimens. [8] A euphaneropid.
Levesquaspis L. patteni [1]

Placoderms

Placoderms
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Bothriolepis B. canadensis [1] An antiarch.
Bothriolepis canadensis (2024).png
Plourdosteus P. canadensis [1] An arthrodire.
Plourdosteus speciesDB15 2.jpg

Sarcopterygians

Sarcopterygians
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Callistiopterus C. clappi [1]
Elpistostege E. watsoni [1] A stegocephalian.
Elpistostege watsoni.jpg
Eusthenopteron E. foordi [1] A tristichopterid.
Eusthenopteron BW.jpg
Fleurantia F. denticulata [1] A lungfish.
Holoptychiidae Holoptychiidae nov. sp. [1] A porolepiform.
Holoptychius H. jarviki [1] A porolepiform.
Miguashaia M. bureaui Miguasha, Quebec. [1] [9] A coelacanth.
Miguashaia DB112.jpg
Quebecius Q. quebecensis [1] A porolepiform.
Scaumenacia S. curta [1] A lungfish.
Scaumenacia curta & Bothriolepis canadensis.JPG

Invertebrates

Arthropods

Arthropods
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Asmusia A. membranacea [1] A clam shrimp.
Pterygotus P. sp. [10] An eurypterid.
20201227 Pterygotus anglicus.png
Petaloscorpio P. bureaui [1] A scorpion.
Zanclodesmus Z. willetti [1] [11] A millipede.


Ctenophores

Ctenophores
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Daihuoides D. jakobvintheri Miguasha, Quebec. [12] MHNM 24–01. [12]

Plants

Plants
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Archaeopteris A. halliana [1]
Barynophyton [1]
Flabellofolium [1]
Protobarynophyton [1]
Spermasporites [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarcopterygii</span> Class of fishes

Sarcopterygii — sometimes considered synonymous with Crossopterygii — is a clade including both a group of bony fish commonly referred to as lobe-finned fish, and tetrapods. They are characterised by prominent muscular limb buds (lobes) within their fins, which are supported by articulated appendicular skeletons. This is in contrast to the other clade of bony fish, the Actinopterygii, which have only skin-covered bony spines supporting the fins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tooth enamel</span> Major tissue that makes up part of the tooth in humans and many animals

Tooth enamel is one of the four major tissues that make up the tooth in humans and many animals, including some species of fish. It makes up the normally visible part of the tooth, covering the crown. The other major tissues are dentin, cementum, and dental pulp. It is a very hard, white to off-white, highly mineralised substance that acts as a barrier to protect the tooth but can become susceptible to degradation, especially by acids from food and drink. In rare circumstances enamel fails to form, leaving the underlying dentin exposed on the surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dentin</span> Calcified tissue of the body; one of the four major components of teeth

Dentin or dentine is a calcified tissue of the body and, along with enamel, cementum, and pulp, is one of the four major components of teeth. It is usually covered by enamel on the crown and cementum on the root and surrounds the entire pulp. By volume, 45% of dentin consists of the mineral hydroxyapatite, 33% is organic material, and 22% is water. Yellow in appearance, it greatly affects the color of a tooth due to the translucency of enamel. Dentin, which is less mineralized and less brittle than enamel, is necessary for the support of enamel. Dentin rates approximately 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. There are two main characteristics which distinguish dentin from enamel: firstly, dentin forms throughout life; secondly, dentin is sensitive and can become hypersensitive to changes in temperature due to the sensory function of odontoblasts, especially when enamel recedes and dentin channels become exposed.

<i>Eusthenopteron</i> Extinct genus of tetrapodomorphs

Eusthenopteron is a genus of prehistoric sarcopterygian fishes known from several species that lived during the Late Devonian period, about 385 million years ago. It has attained an iconic status from its close relationship to tetrapods. Early depictions of animals of this genus show them emerging onto land, but paleontologists now widely agree that eusthenopteron species were strictly aquatic animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miguasha National Park</span> National park in Quebec, Canada

Miguasha Provincial Park is a protected area near Carleton-sur-Mer on the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec in Canada. Created in 1985 by the Government of Quebec, Miguasha was designated a World Heritage Site in 1999 in recognition of its wealth of fossils, which display a crucial time during the evolution of life on Earth. Other names for this site are the Miguasha Fossil Site, the Bay of Escuminac Fossil Site, the Upper Devonian Escuminac Formation, and the Hugh-Miller Cliffs. It is also sometimes referred to on fossil specimens as 'Scaumenac Bay' or 'Scaumenac Bay P.Q.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetrapodomorpha</span> Clade of vertebrates

Tetrapodomorpha is a clade of vertebrates consisting of tetrapods and their closest sarcopterygian relatives that are more closely related to living tetrapods than to living lungfish. Advanced forms transitional between fish and the early labyrinthodonts, such as Tiktaalik, have been referred to as "fishapods" by their discoverers, being half-fish, half-tetrapods, in appearance and limb morphology. The Tetrapodomorpha contains the crown group tetrapods and several groups of early stem tetrapods, which includes several groups of related lobe-finned fishes, collectively known as the osteolepiforms. The Tetrapodomorpha minus the crown group Tetrapoda are the stem Tetrapoda, a paraphyletic unit encompassing the fish to tetrapod transition.

<i>Cheirolepis</i> Extinct genus of fishes

Cheirolepis is an extinct genus of marine and freshwater ray-finned fish that lived in the Devonian period of Europe and North America. It is the only genus yet known within the family Cheirolepididae and the order Cheirolepidiformes. It was among the most basal of the Devonian actinopterygians and is considered the first to possess the "standard" dermal cranial bones seen in later actinopterygians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tristichopteridae</span> Extinct family of tetrapodomorphs

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fram Formation</span> Geologic formation in Nunavut, Canada

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<i>Coelacanthus</i> Extinct genus of coelacanths

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<i>Elpistostege</i> Extinct genus of tetrapodomorphs

Elpistostege is an extinct genus of finned tetrapodomorphs that lived during the Frasnian age of the Late Devonian epoch. Its only known species, E. watsoni, was first described in 1938 by the British palaeontologist Thomas Stanley Westoll, based on a single partial skull roof discovered at the Escuminac Formation in Quebec, Canada.

Guiyu oneiros is one of the earliest articulated bony fish discovered. Fossils of Guiyu have been found in what is now Qujing, Yunnan, China, in late Silurian marine strata, about 425 million years old.

<i>Porolepis</i> Extinct genus of fishes

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Zanclodesmus willetti is an extinct species of archipolypodan millipede that lived in the Late Devonian period of North America, approximately 380 million years ago. It was described in 2005 based on a fossil discovered in the Escuminac Formation of Quebec, Canada two years prior. It was approximately 44 mm (1.7 in) long and 10 mm wide with 27 body segments, and had kidney shaped patches of ocelli. Each trunk segment had long, sickle-shaped extensions (paranota) projecting laterally, and was decorated on the dorsal surface with low rectangular bosses ("bumps") bordered by crescent-shaped bosses. The genus name Zanclodesmus derives from Greek Zanklon, meaning "sickle", in reference to the long, curved paranota, and desmus, a common root word in millipedes. The species name willietti honors Miguasha National Park warden Jason Willett, who discovered the fossil.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intertemporal bone</span>

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<i>Triazeugacanthus</i> Extinct genus of cartilaginous fishes

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Cloutier, Richard (2013-08-24). "Great Canadian Lagerstätten 4. The Devonian Miguasha Biota (Québec): UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Time Capsule in the Early History of Vertebrates". Geoscience Canada. 40 (2): 149. doi: 10.12789/geocanj.2013.40.008 . ISSN   1911-4850.
  2. Cloutier, Richard; Loboziak, Stanislas; Candilier, Anne-Marie; Blieck, Alain (October 1996). "Biostratigraphy of the Upper Devonian Escuminac Formation, eastern Québec, Canada: a comparative study based on miospores and fishes". Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 93 (1–4): 191–215. doi:10.1016/0034-6667(95)00126-3.
  3. Matton, Olivier; Cloutier, Richard; Stevenson, Ross (November 2012). "Apatite for destruction: Isotopic and geochemical analyses of bioapatites and sediments from the Upper Devonian Escuminac Formation (Miguasha, Québec)". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 361–362: 73–83. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.08.004.
  4. Zylberberg, Louise; Meunier, François; Laurin, Michel (2015). "A microanatomical and histological study of the postcranial dermal skeleton of the Devonian actinopterygian Cheirolepis canadensis". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. doi: 10.4202/app.00161.2015 . ISSN   0567-7920.
  5. Mondéjar‐Fernández, Jorge; Meunier, François J.; Cloutier, Richard; Clément, Gaël; Laurin, Michel (August 2021). "A microanatomical and histological study of the scales of the Devonian sarcopterygian Miguashaia bureaui and the evolution of the squamation in coelacanths". Journal of Anatomy. 239 (2): 451–478. doi:10.1111/joa.13428. PMC   8273612 . PMID   33748974.
  6. Zylberberg, Louise; Meunier, François J.; Laurin, Michel (September 2010). "A Microanatomical and Histological Study of the Postcranial Dermal Skeleton in the Devonian Sarcopterygian Eusthenopteron foordi". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 55 (3): 459–470. doi: 10.4202/app.2009.1109 . S2CID   56446998.
  7. 1 2 Chevrinais, Marion; Cloutier, Richard; Sire, Jean-Yves (February 2015). "The revival of a so-called rotten fish: the ontogeny of the Devonian acanthodian Triazeugacanthus". Biology Letters. 11 (2): 20140950. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0950. ISSN   1744-9561. PMC   4360106 . PMID   25694507.
  8. 1 2 Chevrinais, Dr Marion; MOREL, Miss CATHERINE; Renaud, Dr Claude B.; CLOUTIER, Dr RICHARD (9 December 2022). "Ontogeny of Euphanerops longaevus from the Upper Devonian Miguasha Fossil-Fish-Lagerstätte and comparison with the skeletogenesis of the Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 60 (3): 350–365. doi:10.1139/cjes-2022-0062. S2CID   254529477 . Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  9. Fernández, Jorge Mondéjar; Meunier, François J.; Cloutier, Richard; Clément, Gaël; Laurin, Michel (2022-04-06). "Life history and ossification patterns in Miguashaia bureaui reveal the early evolution of osteogenesis in coelacanths". PeerJ. 10: e13175. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13175 . ISSN   2167-8359. PMC   8994491 . PMID   35411253.
  10. Copeland, Murray John; Bolton, Thomas E. (1960). "The Eurypterida of Canada". Canadian Fossil Arthropoda, Eurypterida, Phyllocarida and Decapoda (PDF). Queen's Printer.
  11. Wilson, Heather M.; Daeschler, Edward B.; Desbiens, Sylvain (July 2005). "New Flat-Backed Archipolypodan Millipedes from the Upper Devonian of North America". Journal of Paleontology. 79 (4): 738–744. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2005)079[0738:NFAMFT]2.0.CO;2. ISSN   0022-3360. S2CID   140190612.
  12. 1 2 Klug, Christian; Kerr, Johanne; Lee, Michael S. Y.; Cloutier, Richard (2021-09-24). "A late-surviving stem-ctenophore from the Late Devonian of Miguasha (Canada)". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 19039. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-98362-5. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   8463547 . PMID   34561497.