EXPLORE the Hubei Shennongjia with this slideshow, check the location map and get all the facts and information below.
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Location and Values: Anticosti is the largest island in eastern Canada’s St Lawrence Gulf. The world heritage site comprises a narrow coastal strip of cliffs and beaches around the entire island, approximately 550 km in length, together with the incised banks of the island’s two main rivers. It provides the most complete and best preserved fossil record of the first mass extinction of marine animal life, 447-437 million years ago, a time period known as the Ordovician/Silurian (O/S) boundary interval. This was a period of profound change for life on Earth. Ecosystems were dominated by marine invertebrates and vertebrates and land plants were only just emerging. A generally prolonged ‘greenhouse’ climate was followed by a glaciation in the late Ordovician prompting the Earth’s first recorded mass extinction event when an estimated 85% of species became extinct. Marine fauna took around 4 million years to re-establish and diversify, for example, to resume reef building. The superlative wealth of information at Anticosti enables reconstruction of communities, ecosystems and modes of life. The abundance, diversity, and exquisite preservation of the fossils are exceptional and Anticosti is considered the most globally representative site for Ordovician biodiversity, the conclusion of the Ordovician Mass Extinction event and the lower Silurian post-extinction recovery of life.
Conservation Status and Prospects. According to IUCN’s Conservation Outlook Assessment (2025) the conservation status of the Anticosti is ‘good’. The IUCN report recognizes that the site benefits from a degree of natural protection due to its considerable size and remote location. The legal framework ensures good protection of the site and the involvement of local and regional stakeholders and rights holders, including the Innu communities of Ekuanitshit and Nutashkuan provides a resilient governance structure.
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Slideshow description
Slideshow Description: The slideshow ‘tells the story’ of Anticosti with a portfolio of photos that illustrate the landscape features of the island’s coastal zone and its remarkable fossils. After an initial coastal view the slideshow includes a series of photos of the Vaureal River Canyon and waterfall and its associated rock strata. A short selection of images of marine fossils is then followed by a series of photos from different parts of the coast, illustrating the characteristic geomorphology of the island’s coastal zone. The final few photos show some further fossil finds and an artist’s impression of marine life in the Oldovician Period.
The following Flickr photographers and nomination dossier contributors are acknowledged with thanks for the use of photos in this slideshow: Francine N; moinszero; Mathieu Dupuis; Andre Desrochers; REAL; Stephen Downes; Nicole Vachon; MIA/Pierre Bertrand; Rejean J. Deschenes and UCMP/Berkeley.
Factfile
Website Categories:
The fossil record;
Area: 182 km2
Inscribed: 2023
Criteria:
- Fossil record (viii);
