New Royalty as arrived in Miguasha

A special event was held Tuesday at the Miguasha national park. Two exceptional fossiles were presented for the first time after more than a year’s worth of work.

Discovered in the summer of 2006 by park patroller Jason Willett, these two fossiles are of a rare kind. A Eusthenopteron foordi, better known by its common name ‘Prince of Miguasha’ and a Bothriolepis canadensis, were found in the sector of a cliff known as ‘chenal’.

What makes this a remarkable find is that both fossiles are in 3D, which means that they were not crushed by the formation of rock more than 380 million years ago. Usually, it takes about 50 fishes to complete one, this time around no other parts were necessary.

The ‘Prince of Miguasha’ has his fins intact, which gives it a rare quality. Even more interesting is that the head is complete, which leeds to believe that if the outside is intact than the inside is too. It is believed that ‘The Prince’ was burried in mud while having a gentle swim.

The Borthriolepsis canadensis has the same shape it had when it was alive. This specimen confirms without a doubt the morphology of the species and is proof that this fish was not as flat as what was thought of since the beginning of the century. The Borthriolepsis had a much easier process than his friend ‘The Prince’. When he was covered in mud, he had already passed on.

Normand Parent, the labratory technician, was the first person to see the fossiles after they were discovered. With hands much like those of a surgeon, he laboured for three months to give ‘life’ back to these fish. In the condition they were found, research is also much easier. As Mr. Parent said, ‘These fish had everything to become amphibians. They had the organs to breathe out of water and possibly walk.’

Both fossile’s will be exposed in the grand hall of the natural history museum for the remainder of summer and part of autumn. Next summer, they will join the permanent exposition and will have a special place for all to enjoy.