Amniote faunal revision of the Pictou Group (Permo-Carboniferous), Prince Edward Island, Canada

Abstract

The amniote faunal assemblages from the Pictou Group (Prince Edward Island, Canada) are re-evaluated for the first time in 50 years. Fossils recovered from formations within this group (Orby Head, Hillsborough River, and Kildare Capes) indicate the presence of a parareptile, representing the first occurrence of a non-synapsid amniote from the PEI redbeds. The amniote taxa from PEI are re-described within the context of current research, providing the basis for an updated faunal list for the vertebrate-bearing formations within the Pictou Group. The presence of a parareptile, diadectid, and possibly two synapsids (caseid and/or varanopid), together with the absence of edaphosaurids and definitive ophiacodontids, suggests similarities with the upland Bromacker and Richards Spur localities of Germany and Oklahoma, respectively. However, more research and new fossil discoveries are needed to confidently resolve the systematics and palaeoecology of amniotes from the Lower Permian of Atlantic Canada.