370 Million Year Old Fish

From the Coal Age fossils at Joggins, our travels brought us even further back in time at Parc National du Miguasha.

Here the fossils were from the Age of Fishes (370 million years ago).

Miguasha, like Joggins, is a unique location full of fossils.

Apparently they've found the largest number and best-preserved lobe-finned fish fossils here.

These are the fishes, according to those crazy evolutionists, that gave rise to the first four-legged, air-breathing terrestrial vertebrates, aka the tetrapods.

Of course tetrapod fossils are what can be found at Joggins. Maybe we visited these sites in the wrong order?

Cheirolepis Canadensis

As a ray-finned fish, the descendants of this guy's group make up almost 60% fo the present-day aquatic and terrestrial vertebrate species.

I wonder if that includes us?

Pictures from Miguasha.

PS - we stayed in a hotel in Carleton-sur-Mer, which was a very picturesque town.

Miguasha National Park

Coal Age Galapagos

Located on the Nova Scotia side of the Bay of Fundy, Joggins Fossil Cliffs is the world’s most complete fossil record of life in the Coal Age, about 300 million years ago. 

It was here that Sir William Dawson discovered the first true reptile (hylonomus lyelli), the first animal to live on land and not in the water. 

When it comes to evolution, this little milestone recorded at Joggins remains pivotal to understanding the origins of all vertebrate life on land, including us humans. 

Crazy I know! 

Pictures from Joggins are now up in the galleries.

British were Jerks

A dark period for British rule in the new world. 

 Pictures from Grand Pré.

Loonieburg

Nova Scotia has three UNESCO World Heritage List sites.

From amphibian fossils, British town planning, to Acadian expulsion, they are a varied example of our Canadian history.

First up, Lunenburg:

http://www.michaelswerdlyk.com/lun15.htm

East Coast 2015

 

Just got back from a 3 week road trip out east.
Over 7300km later and we managed to see every UNESCO world heritage list site on the east side of Canada. 

Many, MANY photos to come.