Photo courtesy of Parks Canada's Facebook page

Some of the planet's oldest complex life forms once swam alongside the region that is now home to Canada’s Atlantic shores. Known as the Ediacara biota, these soft-bodied created existed more than 550 million years ago, back when all of the planet’s life forms existed in the sea.

They are the first recorded creatures to be made up of complex, multicellular, animal-like organisms and signify a pivotal event—the emergence of biological complexity in the evolution of life on Earth.

Now wholly extinct, at one time there were more than 30 species of these ancient creatures, which all lived deep below the waterline where no light could reach them. Although they had no shells or skeletons, their bodies became embedded in the soft ocean floor after repeated volcanic ash buried them there.

Today, nearly 20 of these species can be seen fossilized in the sandstone along the ocean floor inside Newfoundland’s Mistaken Point Reserve, which is also one of the few places on earth offering views of the ancient, 565-million-year-old ocean floor.

This week, Parks Canada is celebrating Mistaken Point’s inscription on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List. The site is Canada’s 18th World Heritage Site.

“I am delighted that Mistaken Point is now part of Canada's family of UNESCO World Heritage sites,” said the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada. “This site has received the highest recognition of protected heritage places in the world. Congratulations to all those involved with the inscription of Mistaken Point. Canadians can be more proud to be home to 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including this new addition of great significance."

The globally important fossil site was first nominated for possible inclusion on the UNESCO list in 2014, due in large part to the efforts of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Mistaken Point Ambassadors and the area’s local communities and academic experts.

"Our province's natural heritage is recognized today on the international stage,” said the Honourable Perry Trimper, Minister of Environment and Conservation, Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. “The success of this inscription is the result of countless hours of hard work by the many staff and volunteers who are dedicated to the protection and preservation of the fossils at Mistaken Point. They are to be congratulated for their work."

Mistaken Point is an Ediacaran fossil site located on the southern tip of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula. Most of the UNESCO-designated site falls within Point Ecological Reserve, a provincial protected area managed by Parks and Natural Areas Division (PNAD) of the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Environment and Conservation.

Visitors to this Reserve should expect foggy, cool or wet weather. To explore the fossils requires a 30-minute hike (one-way), accompanied by an official tour guide. More information is available at the Edge of Avalon Interpretive Centre in Portugal Cove South.

For more information, visit www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/parks/wer/r_mpe.

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