Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve
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How it came to be
Mistaken Point is a 17-kilometre strip of coastal cliffs at the southeastern tip of Newfoundland, Canada. The cliffs expose 2 km of deep-sea rock from the Ediacaran Period, 580 to 560 million years ago.
In June 1967 Shiva Balak Misra, a graduate student from India studying geology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, found the first fossil in the area, Fractofusus misrai. More than 100 ancient seafloor surfaces in the cliffs carry over 10,000 fossil impressions, most of them frond-like rangeomorphs. The creatures were buried under volcanic ash, which kept their shapes in fine detail.
The fossils are more than 40 million years older than the Cambrian explosion and mark when large, complex life appeared. Since the area became an ecological reserve in 1987 no fossil theft has succeeded, and it was inscribed in 2016. The fossils can be seen only on guided tours.
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