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Passion Pursuits
Hunting for Prehistoric Reptiles in Atlantic Canada
How a Prince Edward Island geologist transports visitors to the time before dinosaurs
BY Carolyn B. Heller
The Scene
“We know so much about the dinosaurs, but we don’t really talk about the strange creatures that existed before them,” says Laura MacNeil, walking along a secluded beach on Prince Edward Island’s south shore.
MacNeil is a PEI-born geologist, science educator, and founder of Prehistoric Island Tours, where she leads visitors through the island’s most significant fossil site. On these 1.75-hour beach walks, she explains how to identify fossils—some perfectly preserved in the sand—and shares stories of how PEI’s striking red cliffs came to be. She points out fossilized trees and details the discovery of alligator-sized reptiles like Dimetrodon borealis, with large sail-like spines that inhabited the island 60 million years before the dinosaurs roamed the earth.
The Backstory
Growing up on PEI, MacNeil says no one ever talked about fossils. Even after earning an undergraduate degree in geological sciences from Queen’s University and an M.Sc. in geology from Nova Scotia’s Acadia University, she learned nothing about her island’s geological history. Yet after doing some research, she says, “I was shocked to learn that the very first Dimetrodon skull found in the entire world was found here,” on Prince Edward Island back in the 1850s.
MacNeil contributed to the island’s fossil record in 2018, when she discovered a set of footprints near Cavendish on the north shore, which turned out to be fossilized footprints of a Dimetrodon. The geologist subsequently located a site on PEI’s south shore with huge, fossilized tree trunks preserved in the sand, which is where she now takes visitors on her Prehistoric Island Tours.
Hits
Prince Edward Island contains the most complete record of the Permian period anywhere in Canada, according to MacNeil. The Permian era, when reptiles like Dimetrodon would have evolved to walk on land, began nearly 300 million years ago.
Prince Edward Island’s plant fossil record is scientifically important, offering a window into some of Earth’s early forest ecosystems during the Paleozoic era.
The Takeaway
Why should we care about the fossilized remains of trees and strange reptiles? Looking at these long-ago records of early life can help us assess how present-day climate changes may impact us today. Perhaps geologists like Laura MacNeil can help us understand how our own footprints might one day be preserved in the island’s sands.
Must See
Look for the fossilized trees along the beach, which represent an early Permian-era forest that was likely buried in a storm.
Travel Planner
Tours typically run June through mid-October. Book at prehistoricislandtours.ca.
For more PEI travel information, see tourismpei.com
