The Age of Fishes Museum is one of only two (the other one, its sister museum, is at Miguasha in Quebec, Canada) Devonian fish fossil museums in the world and is a National Heritage site due to its international scientific significance. Located in

Canowindra Situated on the Belubula River, Canowindra (pronounced ) is a historic township and the largest population centre in Cabonne Shire, New South Wales, Cabonne Shire. The town is located between Orange, New South Wales, Orange and Cowra, New South ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, it was established in 1998. The Museum was designed by Australian architect, John Andrews. The museum houses a huge collection of

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

fish fossils found at the Mandagery Sandstone in the Canowindra area. In 1955, roadworks near Canowindra uncovered a large rock slab covered with unusual impressions, which was then placed to the side of the road whilst roadworks continued. A local

apiarist A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees, a profession known as beekeeping. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper o ...

later found this slab and, believing it to contain fossils, contacted the

Australian Museum The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum. is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney, William Street, Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, New South Wales. It is the oldest natural ...

about it. In 1993 paleontologist Alex Ritchie led a dig at the site of the initial fossil discovery. That dig led to the removal of 70 tonnes of rock slab and revealed over 3,000 fish fossils from the Devonian period. The dig site has led to several new discoveries and tells the story of events that occurred over 360 million years ago. In 2018 the museum was awarded a gold medal in the Specialised Tourism Services category at the Country and Outback Regional Tourism Awards

See also

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