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List of U.S. state fossils

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Most states in the US have designated a state fossil, many during the 1980s. It is common to designate a fossilized species, rather than a single specimen or a category of fossils. State fossils are distinct from other state emblems like state dinosaurs, state stones, state minerals, state gemstones or state rocks and a state may designate one, a few, or all of those. For example, in Arizona, the state stone is turquoise and the state dinosaur is Sonorasaurus thompsoni yet the state fossil is petrified wood.

The two first states to designate a state fossil were Nebraska and North Dakota, both in 1967.

Seven states and the District of Columbia still lack an explicit state fossil:

Table of state fossils

State
federal district
or territory 		Age Common name Binomial
name 		Image Year adopted
Alabama Eocene Basilosaurus whale Basilosaurus cetoides
1984[6]
Alaska Pleistocene Woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius
1986
Arizona Triassic Petrified wood Araucarioxylon arizonicum
1988
California Pleistocene Saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis
1974
Colorado Jurassic Stegosaurus Stegosaurus armatus
1982
Connecticut Jurassic Dinosaur tracks Eubrontes giganteus
1991
Delaware Cretaceous Belemnite Belemnitella americana
1996
Georgia Cretaceous–
Miocene 		Shark tooth undetermined
1976[7]
Idaho Pliocene Hagerman horse Equus simplicidens
1988[8]
Illinois Pennsylvanian Tully monster Tullimonstrum gregarium
1989[9]
Indiana Holocene American mastodon Mammut americanum
2022[10]
Kansas Cretaceous Pteranodon
(state flying fossil)[11] 		Pteranodon longiceps
2014[12]
Cretaceous Tylosaurus
(state marine fossil)[13] 		Tylosaurus kansasensis
2014[14]
Kentucky Ordovician–
Pennsylvanian 		Brachiopod undetermined
1986[15]
Louisiana Oligocene Petrified palmwood Palmoxylon
1976[16]
Maine Devonian Pertica plant Pertica quadrifaria
1976
Maryland Miocene Ecphora gardnerae
shell 		Ecphora gardnerae
gardnerae
1984 (name revised, 1994)[17]
Massachusetts Jurassic Dinosaur tracks Eubrontes giganteus
1980[18]
Michigan Holocene American mastodon Mammut americanum
2002
Mississippi Eocene "Prehistoric whale" Zygorhiza kochii
1981[19]
Missouri Pennsylvanian Sea lily Delocrinus missouriensis 1989[20]
Montana Cretaceous Hadrosaur Maiasaura peeblesorum
1985[21]
Nebraska Pleistocene Woolly mammoth
Columbian mammoth
Imperial mammoth 		Mammuthus primigenius
Mammuthus columbi
Mammuthus imperator
1967[22][23]
New Jersey Cretaceous Hadrosaur Hadrosaurus foulkii
1991[24][25]
Nevada Triassic Ichthyosaur[26][27] Shonisaurus popularis
1977 (designated) 1988 (amended)
New Mexico Triassic Coelophysis Coelophysis bauri
1981[28][29]
New York Silurian Sea scorpion Eurypterus remipes
1984
North Carolina Miocene- Pliocene Shark tooth Otodus megalodon
2013[30]
North Dakota Paleocene Shipworm-bored
petrified wood 		Teredo petrified wood
1967[31][32]
Ohio Ordovician Trilobite Isotelus maximus (Fossil invertebrate)
1985[33]
Devonian Dunkleosteus Dunkleosteus terrelli (Fossil Fish)
2021[34]
Oklahoma Jurassic Saurophaganax Saurophaganax maximus
2000[35]
Oregon Eocene Dawn redwood Metasequoia
2005
Pennsylvania Devonian Trilobite Phacops rana
1988[36]
Rhode Island Paleozoic Trilobite Genus and species not stated[37]
2023[38]
South Carolina Pleistocene Columbian mammoth Mammuthus columbi
2014[39]
South Dakota Cretaceous Triceratops Triceratops horridus
1988[40]
Tennessee Cretaceous Bivalve Pterotrigonia thoracica
1998[41]
Utah Jurassic Allosaurus Allosaurus fragilis
1988[42]
Vermont Pleistocene Beluga whale (redesignated as state marine fossil in 2014) Delphinapterus leucas
1993[43][44]
Pleistocene Woolly mammoth
tooth and tusk
(state terrestrial fossil) 		Mammuthus primigenius
2014[44][45]
Virginia Cenozoic scallop Chesapecten jeffersonius
1993
Washington Pleistocene Columbian mammoth Mammuthus columbi
1998[46]
West Virginia Late Pleistocene Jefferson's ground sloth Megalonyx jeffersonii
2008[47]
Wisconsin Silurian Trilobite Calymene celebra
1985[48]
Wyoming Eocene Knightia Knightia spp.
1987

See also

References

  1. ^ "Arkansas State Fossil - Arkansaurus - While Arkansas does not officially have a state fossil it does have a state dinosaur". State Symbols, State Fossil. Fossilera. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  2. ^ "Iowa to consider recognizing official state fossil". The Seattle Times. January 23, 2018.
  3. ^ "Giant Beaver swamps competition to be Minnesota state fossil". MPR News. October 13, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  4. ^ Carlson, Brady (January 6, 2015). "Granite Geek: Will The Mastodon Become New Hampshire's Official State Fossil?". New Hampshire Public Radio.
  5. ^ "Texas State Symbols". Texas State Legislature. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  6. ^ "Official State of Alabama Fossil". Alabama Emblems, Symbols and Honors. Alabama Department of Archives & History. August 2, 2005. Archived from the original on December 30, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  7. ^ "Georgia State Fossil". State Symbols, State Fossil. e-Reference Desk. March 30, 2014. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  8. ^ The Hagerman horse at the Idaho official list of state emblems
  9. ^ Illinois State Symbols, Department of Natural Resources, archived from the original on February 17, 2017, retrieved May 20, 2019
  10. ^ "Indiana lawmakers name mastodon as first state fossil". WHAS-TV. Associated Press. February 19, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  11. ^ "State Fossils - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society".
  12. ^ "List of State Fossils". State Symbols, State Fossil. Fossilera. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  13. ^ "State Fossils - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society".
  14. ^ "List of State Fossils". State Symbols, State Fossil. Fossilera. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  15. ^ "Kentucky State Symbols". Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives. March 30, 2007. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2007.
  16. ^ "Louisiana State Fossil". State Symbols, State Fossil. e-Reference Desk. March 8, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  17. ^ "Maryland's Official State Fossil Shell". Maryland Geological Survey. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  18. ^ Official state fossil of Massachusetts in "State Symbols USA"
  19. ^ Fossil whale: State Fossil of Mississippi (PDF), Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, 1991, retrieved May 9, 2019
  20. ^ "The crinoid became Missouri’s official fossil in 1989 after a group of Lee’s Summit students worked through the legislative process to promote it as a state symbol", Missouri's Secretary of State official website
  21. ^ "On February 22, 1985, a bill was passed unanimously, designating Maiasaura peeblesorum as Montana’s official state fossil", A to Z USA by World Trade Press
  22. ^ USA, State Symbols (October 5, 2014). "Mammoth State Fossil | State Symbols USA". statesymbolsusa.org. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  23. ^ "Cenozoic fossils of Nebraska". eas2.unl.edu. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  24. ^ "Hadrosaurus Foulkii ("Haddy") Information". Official website of the Borough of Haddonfield. Borough of Haddonfield. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  25. ^ "The Story of New Jersey's State Fossil: Hadrosaurus foulkii". Official website of the Rutgers Geology Museum. Rutgers Geology Museum. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  26. ^ "Nevada State Fossil | Ichthyosaur". May 28, 2014.
  27. ^ "Nevada State Fossil: Ichthyosaur (Genus Shonisaurus)".
  28. ^ "About New Mexico - State Fossil", New Mexico's Secretary of State official website
  29. ^ "Coelophysis, the New Mexico State Fossil", at New Mexico Earth Matters, New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources official website
  30. ^ "Fossil, Fossilized Teeth of the Megalodon Shark | NCpedia". ncpedia.org. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  31. ^ "North Dakota State Fossil - Teredo Petrified Wood". State Symbols, State Fossil. Fossilera. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  32. ^ "North Dakota State Fossil". statesymbolsusa.org. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  33. ^ "5.071 State invertebrate fossil", Ohio Revised Code, retrieved February 9, 2021
  34. ^ "5.078 Official fossil fish of the state", Ohio Revised Code, retrieved February 9, 2021
  35. ^ "Oklahoma State Fossil | Saurophaganax Maximus". statesymbolsusa.org. September 6, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  36. ^ Official State Fossil – Phaecops rana (PDF), Pennsylvania Legislature, December 5, 1988, retrieved September 28, 2021
  37. ^ Rhode Island State Fossil: Trilobite - In 2022, Rhode Island designated trilobites (genus and species not stated) as the state fossil, published by Paleontological Research Institution.
  38. ^ "2023 Rhode Island General Laws Title 42 - State Affairs and Government Chapter 42-4 - State Emblems Section 42-4-23. - State fossil". US Law, official publication. Justia.com. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  39. ^ "South Carolina Fossil". WLTX. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  40. ^ "South Dakota State Fossil - Triceratops Horridus ; In 1988, the South Dakota state legislature designated the dinosaur Triceratops horridus as their state fossil". State Symbols, State Fossil. Fossilera. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  41. ^ "Tennesse State Fossil". statesymbolsusa.org. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  42. ^ Utah State Fossil - Allosaurus Archived January 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine from pioneer.utah.gov "Pioneer - Utah's Online Library" page. Retrieved on September 8, 2008
  43. ^ Vermont has both a state terrestrial fossil and a state marine fossil.
  44. ^ a b "Vermont State Terrestrial Fossil". E Reference Desk. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  45. ^ "Mammoth Tusk Discovered 1865". Brattleboro History. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  46. ^ http://leg.wa.gov/Symbols/ WA State Symbols
  47. ^ http://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x112312085 Manchins signs bills involving snakes, fossils, research into law
  48. ^ "Wisconsin State Symbols". State of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on January 12, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
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