Escuminac Formation

Escuminac Formation
Escuminac Formation
Stratigraphic range: Devonian (Middle Frasnian) 385–374 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Miguasha Group
Underlies	Bonaventure Formation
Overlies	Fleurant Formation
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]

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
Genus	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Diplacanthus	D. ellsi	^[1]		A diplacanthiform.
Diplacanthus	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
Genus	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Cheirolepis	C. canadensis	^[1]

Jawless fish

Jawless fish
Genus	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
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
Genus	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Bothriolepis	B. canadensis	^[1]		An antiarch.
Plourdosteus	P. canadensis	^[1]		An arthrodire.

Sarcopterygians

Sarcopterygians
Genus	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Callistiopterus	C. clappi	^[1]
Elpistostege	E. watsoni	^[1]		A stegocephalian.
Eusthenopteron	E. foordi	^[1]		A tristichopterid.
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.
Quebecius	Q. quebecensis	^[1]		A porolepiform.
Scaumenacia	S. curta	^[1]		A lungfish.

Invertebrates

Arthropods

Arthropods
Genus	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Asmusia	A. membranacea	^[1]		A clam shrimp.
Pterygotus	P. sp.	^[10]		An eurypterid.
Petaloscorpio	P. bureaui	^[1]		A scorpion.
Zanclodesmus	Z. willetti	^[1]^[11]		A millipede.

Ctenophores

Ctenophores
Genus	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Daihuoides	D. jakobvintheri	Miguasha, Quebec.^[12]	MHNM 24–01.^[12]

Plants

Plants
Genus	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Archaeopteris	A. halliana	^[1]
Barynophyton		^[1]
Flabellofolium		^[1]
Protobarynophyton		^[1]
Spermasporites		^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ 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.
^ Copeland, Murray John; Bolton, Thomas E. (1960). "The Eurypterida of Canada". Canadian Fossil Arthropoda, Eurypterida, Phyllocarida and Decapoda (PDF). Queen's Printer.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b 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.

Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database. "Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database". Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2021.