Age of Fishes Museum

The Age of Fishes Museum is a paleontology museum on Gaskill Street in Canowindra, Cabonne Shire, New South Wales. It houses the internationally significant Canowindra fish fossils, a 360-million-year-old Devonian mass-death assemblage discovered in 1955 during roadworks. The museum displays thousands of exceptionally preserved fossil fish, including the large predatory Mandageria fairfaxi, and interprets Devonian evolution through exhibits, replicas and educational displays.

Visitors can expect a single-level museum focused on Devonian fossil fish from the Canowindra site. The main gallery displays the original fossil-bearing slabs, detailed reconstructions and life-size models of Devonian fish, interpretive panels, and interactive educational displays. The setting is a purpose-built museum building on Gaskill Street near the Belubula River, with a gift shop, outdoor picnic area and space for guided tours and school programs.

The museum preserves the Canowindra fish fossils, discovered in 1955 during roadworks on Gooloogong Road and excavated in 1993. The site contains a Late Devonian (approx. 360 million years ago) mass-death assemblage with thousands of fish preserved on large sandstone slabs, regarded as one of the world's most important Devonian fish fossil deposits. It has provided key evidence for the evolution of lobe-finned fishes and early tetrapods.

The museum is a major cultural and educational institution for Canowindra and the Cabonne region, interpreting the area's natural heritage and Devonian paleontological significance. It serves as a community visitor centre and educational resource for schools and researchers, located on Wiradjuri Country.