‘A mindblower’: Permian Period fossil found on Prince Edward Island

A 290-million-year-old footprint was found in Prince Edward Island.

An important fossil footprint from the Permian Period has been found on Prince Edward Island.

North Rustico resident Patrick Brunet found the fossil along the shore of Hillsborough Bay, according to a news release from PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation.

The fossil footprint, which is 25 centimeters wide, dates back about 290 million years.

“(It) may have been made by a Pareiasaur, a heavily built, knobby-skulled plant eater that could weigh up to one tonne, the largest animal to roam the equatorial regions of Pangea at the time,” reads the release.

Brunet, who has a skilled eye for finding fossils, says it’s the biggest footprint he’s ever found.

“I knew immediately it came from a really big animal, and it was really important,” he said.

Dr. John Calder is the lead investigator and advisor to the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation. He’s working with a team of international scientists, including Brunet, to confirm what type of animal made the footprint.

They believe it could end up being one of the oldest known examples of a fossil footprint ever discovered.

“This one footprint is a mindblower, in its sheer size and due to the fact that nothing quite like it is known from this time, in the earliest Permian,” said Calder. “PEI will soon be seen as one of the most important sites for fossil footprints of life on land during this unique time in the earth’s history.”

The number of fossils from reptiles and amphibians that roamed P.E.I. millions of years ago has “grown remarkably” over recent years. According to the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation, the province now ranks alongside world famous sites in the southwestern USA and Europe.

The fossil will be returned to the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and will join the provincial collection once the study is complete.

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