List of U.S. state fossils

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:

• Arkansas: still no state fossil in Arkansas, though the state designated Arkansaurus as its state dinosaur.^[1]
• District of Columbia: Capitalsaurus is the state dinosaur of Washington D.C., but the District has not chosen a state fossil.
• Florida: There is no state fossil in Florida, though agatised coral, which is a fossil, is the state stone.
• Hawaii
• Iowa: The crinoid was proposed in 2018.^[2]
• Minnesota: The giant beaver was proposed in 2022.^[3]
• New Hampshire: The American mastodon (Mammut americanum) was considered in 2015.^[4]
• Texas: There is no state fossil though the state dinosaur is Sauroposeidon proteles.^[5]

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

• List of U.S. state dinosaurs
• List of U.S. state minerals, rocks, and gemstones
• Lists of U.S. state insignia

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. "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.

External links

• List of U.S. state fossils, from National Park Service