{{Short description|Geologic formation in Quebec, Canada}} {{For|homonymy|Escuminac (disambiguation){{!}}Escuminac}} {{Infobox rockunit | name = Escuminac Formation | image = Miguasha_affleurement_2.jpg | caption = Outcrops of the Escuminac Formation in Miguasha National Park | type = Geological formation | age = Devonian (Middle Frasnian) {{Fossil range|385|374}} | prilithology = | otherlithology = | namedfor = | namedby = | region = Quebec | country = Canada | coordinates = | unitof = Miguasha Group<ref name=":0" /> | subunits = | underlies = Bonaventure Formation<ref name=":0" /> | overlies = Fleurant Formation<ref name=":0" /> | thickness = | extent = | area = | map = | map_caption = |period=Devonian}}
The '''Escuminac Formation''' is a geologic formation in Quebec. It preserves fossils dating back to the Frasnian, in the Devonian period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cloutier |first1=Richard |last2=Loboziak |first2=Stanislas |last3=Candilier |first3=Anne-Marie |last4=Blieck |first4=Alain |title=Biostratigraphy of the Upper Devonian Escuminac Formation, eastern Québec, Canada: a comparative study based on miospores and fishes |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |date=October 1996 |volume=93 |issue=1–4 |pages=191–215 |doi=10.1016/0034-6667(95)00126-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Matton |first1=Olivier |last2=Cloutier |first2=Richard |last3=Stevenson |first3=Ross |title=Apatite for destruction: Isotopic and geochemical analyses of bioapatites and sediments from the Upper Devonian Escuminac Formation (Miguasha, Québec) |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |date=November 2012 |volume=361-362 |pages=73–83 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.08.004}}</ref>
==Description==
thumb|A reconstruction of the paleoenvironment of the Escuminac Formation.
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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Cloutier |first=Richard |date=2013-08-24 |title=Great Canadian Lagerstätten 4. The Devonian Miguasha Biota (Québec): UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Time Capsule in the Early History of Vertebrates |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257130506 |journal=Geoscience Canada |volume=40 |issue=2 |page=149 |doi=10.12789/geocanj.2013.40.008 |issn=1911-4850|doi-access=free }}</ref> The main Miguasha exposures were named the 'René Bureau Cliffs' after the geologist and paleontologist.<ref name=":0" /> 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'',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zylberberg |first1=Louise |last2=Meunier |first2=François |last3=Laurin |first3=Michel |title=A microanatomical and histological study of the postcranial dermal skeleton of the Devonian actinopterygian ''Cheirolepis canadensis'' |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |date=2015 |doi=10.4202/app.00161.2015 |language=en |issn=0567-7920|doi-access=free }}</ref> the actinistian ''Miguashaia''<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mondéjar‐Fernández |first1=Jorge |last2=Meunier |first2=François J. |last3=Cloutier |first3=Richard |last4=Clément |first4=Gaël |last5=Laurin |first5=Michel |title=A microanatomical and histological study of the scales of the Devonian sarcopterygian ''Miguashaia bureaui'' and the evolution of the squamation in coelacanths |journal=Journal of Anatomy |date=August 2021 |volume=239 |issue=2 |pages=451–478 |doi=10.1111/joa.13428|pmid=33748974 |pmc=8273612 }}</ref> and the tetrapodomorph ''Euthenopteron''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zylberberg |first1=Louise |last2=Meunier |first2=François J. |last3=Laurin |first3=Michel |title=A Microanatomical and Histological Study of the Postcranial Dermal Skeleton in the Devonian Sarcopterygian ''Eusthenopteron foordi'' |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |date=September 2010 |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=459–470 |doi=10.4202/app.2009.1109|s2cid=56446998 |doi-access=free }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" />
==Fossil content== ===Vertebrates=== ====Acanthodians==== {| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="6" align="center" | '''Acanthodians''' |- ! Genus !! Species !! Presence !'''Material'''!! Notes !! Images |- |rowspan=2|''Diplacanthus'' |''D. ellsi'' | <ref name=":0" /> | | A diplacanthiform. | |- |''D. horridus'' | <ref name=":0" /> | | A diplacanthiform. | |- |''Homalacanthus'' |''H. concinnus'' |<ref name=":0" /> | | | |- |''Triazeugacanthus'' |''T. affinis'' |Miguasha, Quebec.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Chevrinais |first1=Marion |last2=Cloutier |first2=Richard |last3=Sire |first3=Jean-Yves |date=February 2015 |title=The revival of a so-called rotten fish: the ontogeny of the Devonian acanthodian Triazeugacanthus |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272489137 |journal=Biology Letters |volume=11 |issue=2 |article-number=20140950 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2014.0950 |pmid=25694507 |pmc=4360106 |issn=1744-9561}}</ref> |Thousands of specimens representing multiple ontogenetic stages.<ref name=":2" /> | | |- |}
====Actinopterygians==== {| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="6" align="center" | '''Actinopterygians''' |- ! Genus !! Species !! Presence !'''Material'''!! Notes !! Images |- | ''Cheirolepis'' |''C. canadensis'' | <ref name=":0" /> | | |center|150 px |- |}
====Jawless fish==== {| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="6" align="center" | '''Jawless fish''' |- ! Genus !! Species !! Presence !'''Material'''!! Notes !! Images |- |''Endeiolepis'' |''E. aneri'' |<ref name=":0" /> | | | |- |''Escuminaspis'' |''E. laticeps'' |<ref name=":0" /> | | | |- | ''Euphanerops'' |''E. longaevus'' | Miguasha.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Chevrinais |first1=Dr Marion |last2=MOREL |first2=Miss CATHERINE |last3=Renaud |first3=Dr Claude B. |last4=CLOUTIER |first4=Dr RICHARD |date=9 December 2022 |title=Ontogeny of Euphanerops longaevus from the Upper Devonian Miguasha Fossil-Fish-Lagerstätte and comparison with the skeletogenesis of the Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=350–365 |url=https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjes-2022-0062 |access-date=2022-12-14 |language=en |doi=10.1139/cjes-2022-0062|s2cid=254529477 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> |Over 3,500 specimens.<ref name=":3" /> | A euphaneropid. | |- |''Levesquaspis'' |''L. patteni'' |<ref name=":0" /> | | | |- |}
====Placoderms==== {| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="6" align="center" | '''Placoderms''' |- ! Genus !! Species !! Presence !'''Material'''!! Notes !! Images |- | ''Bothriolepis'' |''B. canadensis'' | <ref name=":0" /> | | An antiarch. |center|150 px |- |''Plourdosteus'' |''P. canadensis'' |<ref name=":0" /> | |An arthrodire. |center|150 px |- |}
====Sarcopterygians==== {| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="6" align="center" | '''Sarcopterygians''' |- ! Genus !! Species !! Presence !'''Material'''!! Notes !! Images |- |''Callistiopterus'' |''C. clappi'' |<ref name=":0" /> | | | |- |''Elpistostege'' |''E. watsoni'' |<ref name=":0" /> | |A stegocephalian. |center|150 px |- |''Eusthenopteron'' |''E. foordi'' |<ref name=":0" /> | |A tristichopterid. |center|150 px |- |''Fleurantia'' |''F. denticulata'' |<ref name=":0" /> | |A lungfish. | |- |Holoptychiidae |Holoptychiidae nov. sp. |<ref name=":0" /> | |A porolepiform. | |- |''Holoptychius'' |''H. jarviki'' |<ref name=":0" /> | |A porolepiform. | |- | ''Miguashaia'' |''M. bureaui'' | Miguasha, Quebec.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fernández |first1=Jorge Mondéjar |last2=Meunier |first2=François J. |last3=Cloutier |first3=Richard |last4=Clément |first4=Gaël |last5=Laurin |first5=Michel |date=2022-04-06 |title=Life history and ossification patterns in Miguashaia bureaui reveal the early evolution of osteogenesis in coelacanths |journal=PeerJ |language=en |volume=10 |article-number=e13175 |doi=10.7717/peerj.13175 |pmid=35411253 |pmc=8994491 |issn=2167-8359 |doi-access=free }}</ref> | | A coelacanth. |center|150 px |- |''Quebecius'' |''Q. quebecensis'' |<ref name=":0" /> | |A porolepiform. | |- |''Scaumenacia'' |''S. curta'' |<ref name=":0" /> | |A lungfish. |center|150 px |- |}
===Invertebrates=== ====Arthropods==== {| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="6" align="center" | '''Arthropods''' |- ! Genus !! Species !! Presence !'''Material'''!! Notes !! Images |- | ''Asmusia'' |''A. membranacea'' | <ref name=":0" /> | | A clam shrimp. | |- |''Pterygotus'' |''P.'' sp. |<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Copeland |first1=Murray John |url=https://emrlibrary.gov.yk.ca/gsc/bulletins/60.pdf |title=Canadian Fossil Arthropoda, Eurypterida, Phyllocarida and Decapoda |last2=Bolton |first2=Thomas E. |date=1960 |publisher=Queen's Printer |language=en |chapter=The Eurypterida of Canada}}</ref> | |An eurypterid. |center|150 px |- |''Petaloscorpio'' |''P. bureaui'' |<ref name=":0" /> | |A scorpion. | |- |''Zanclodesmus'' |''Z. willetti'' |<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Heather M. |last2=Daeschler |first2=Edward B. |last3=Desbiens |first3=Sylvain |title=New Flat-Backed Archipolypodan Millipedes from the Upper Devonian of North America |date=July 2005 |url=https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-paleontology/volume-79/issue-4/0022-3360_2005_079_0738_NFAMFT_2.0.CO_2/NEW-FLAT-BACKED-ARCHIPOLYPODAN-MILLIPEDES-FROM-THE-UPPER-DEVONIAN-OF/10.1666/0022-3360(2005)079[0738:NFAMFT]2.0.CO;2.full |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=79 |issue=4 |pages=738–744 |doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2005)079[0738:NFAMFT]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=140190612 |issn=0022-3360|url-access=subscription }}</ref> | |A millipede. | |- |}
====Ctenophores==== {| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="6" align="center" | '''Ctenophores''' |- ! Genus !! Species !! Presence !'''Material'''!! Notes !! Images |- | ''Daihuoides'' |''D. jakobvintheri'' | Miguasha, Quebec.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Klug |first1=Christian |last2=Kerr |first2=Johanne |last3=Lee |first3=Michael S. Y. |last4=Cloutier |first4=Richard |date=2021-09-24 |title=A late-surviving stem-ctenophore from the Late Devonian of Miguasha (Canada) |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=19039 |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-98362-5 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=8463547 |pmid=34561497}}</ref> |MHNM 24–01.<ref name=":1" /> | | |- |}
===Plants=== {| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="6" align="center" | '''Plants''' |- ! Genus !! Species !! Presence !'''Material'''!! Notes !! Images |- | ''Archaeopteris'' |''A. halliana'' | <ref name=":0" /> | | | |- |''Barynophyton'' | |<ref name=":0" /> | | | |- |''Flabellofolium'' | |<ref name=":0" /> | | | |- |''Protobarynophyton'' | |<ref name=":0" /> | | | |- |''Spermasporites'' | |<ref name=":0" /> | | | |- |}
==See also== {{Portal|Earth sciences|Canada|Paleontology}} * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Quebec
==References== {{Reflist}} * {{cite web|title= Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database|author= ((Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database))|url= https://www.fossilworks.org|access-date= 17 December 2021|archive-date= 25 March 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220325060448/http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=home|url-status= live}}
Category:Devonian Quebec Category:Devonian southern paleotemperate deposits Category:Frasnian Stage Category:Geologic formations of Quebec Category:Long stubs with short prose