2023-02-18 08:00:00
It may seem impossible, but millions of years ago dinosaurs once roamed the United States. Who knows, maybe a dinosaur once called your backyard its home.
Nearly every state in the nation has either an official dinosaur or fossil. The only states without a state fossil or dinosaur are Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. But don’t fret, those states do have either an official mineral, rock, stone or gemstone.
So, it’s time to grab your shovel and let’s get to digging. Here are the official state fossils and dinosaurs:
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Alabama
The Basilosaurus cetoides is Alabama’s state fossil. It is a whale from the Eocene age.
Alaska
The The original mammoth is Alaska’s state fossil. It is a woolly mammoth from the Pleistocene age.
Arkansas
The Arkansaurus fridayi is Arkansas’ state dinosaur.
Arizona
The Araucarioxylon arizonicum is Arizona’s state fossil. It is from the Triassic age and is commonly known as petrified wood. Arizona’s state dinosaur is the Sonorasaurus thompsoni.
California
The Smilodon californicus is California’s state fossil. It is a sabertooth cat from the Pleistocene age. The Augustynolophus morrisi is California’s state dinosaur.
Colorado
The Stegosaurus stenops is Colorado’s state fossil. It is a plated dinosaur from the Jurassic age.
Connecticut
The Eubrontes giganteus is Connecticut’s state fossil. It is dinosaur tracks from the Jurassic age.
Delaware
The Belemnitella americana is Delaware’s state fossil. It is a belemniteor an extinct squid-like cephalopod, from the Cretaceous age. The Dryptosauridae is recognized as the official dinosaur of Delaware. This was designated in 2022.
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District of Columbia
The “Capitalsaurus” is the official dinosaur of Washington D.C., and its fossils were discovered in 1898. This was given its name by paleontologist Peter Kranz in the 1990s. It was made the official dinosaur of D.C. in 1998.
Florida
Florida does not have a dinosaur but its official state stone is fossilized. The “agatized coral” is Florida’s state stone. It is agatized coral from between the Oligocene through Miocene age.
Georgia
A shark tooth is Georgia’s state fossil. It from between the Cretaceous through Miocene age.
Idaho
The A simple horse is Idaho’s state fossil. It is a Hagerman horse from the Pliocene age.
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Illinois
The A gregarious Tullimonster is Illinois’ state fossil. It a “Tully monster,” or a soft-bodied bilaterian animal from the Pennsylvanian age.
Kansas
Kansas has two state fossils. The Pteranodon longiceps is the state’s flying fossil. It is from the Cretaceous age. The Tylosaurus kansasensis is the state’s marine fossil. It is also from the Cretaceous age.
Kentucky
A brachiopod is Kentucky’s state fossil. It is a shellfish from between the Ordovician through Mississippian age.
Louisiana
The Palmoxylon is Louisiana’s state fossil. It is petrified palm wood from the Oligocene age.
Maine
The Quadrifaria pertica is Maine’s state fossil. It is a plant from the Devonian age.
Maryland
The shell of Ecphora gardnerae is the Maryland’s state fossil. It is from the Miocene age. The Astrodon johnstoni is the official dinosaur of Maryland. It was designated in 1998.
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Massachusetts
The Eubrontes giganteus is Massachusetts’ state fossil. It is dinosaur tracks from the Jurassic age. The Podokesaurus holyokensis is the official dinosaur of Massachusetts. It was designated in 2021.
Michigan
The American mammoth is Michigan’s state fossil. It is an American mastodon from the Holocene age.
Mississippi
“Prehistoric whales” are the designated state fossils of Mississippi. This includes two different whales: the Zygorhiza kochii and Basilosaurus. They are from the Eocene era.
Missouri
The Episocrinus missouriensiss is Missouri’s state fossil. It is crinoid, commonly known as a sea lily, from the Pennsylvanian age. The Parrosaurus missouriensis is the official dinosaur of Missouri.
Montana
The Maiasaura of Peebles is Montana’s state fossil. It is a duck-billed dinosaur from the Cretaceous age.
Nebraska
The mammoth from the Pleistocene age is Nebraska’s state fossil. Mammoth fossils have been found in most Nebraska counties.
Nevada
The The popular Shonisaurus is Nevada’s state fossil. It is an ichthyosaur from the Triassic age. These creatures were approximately the length of a school bus.
New Jersey
The Hadrosaurus foulkii is New Jersey’s state fossil. It is a duck-billed dinosaur from the Cretaceous age.
New Mexico
The Coelophysis bauri is New Mexico’s state fossil. It is a dinosaur from the Triassic age
New York
The Eurypterus remipes is New York’s state fossil. It is a sea scorpion from the Silurian age.
North Carolina
A tooth from the Otodus megalodon is the state fossil of North Carolina. It is from the Miocene through Pliocene age.
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North Dakota
The Teredo petrified wood is North Dakota’s state fossil. The Teredo is a worm-shaped mollusk and it would burrow into trees in North Dakota 60-80 million years ago. The fossil is from the Paleocene age.
Ohio
Ohio has two state fossils: the Isotelus maximus and Dunkleosteus terrelli.
The Isotelus maximus is the state’s invertebrate fossil. It is a trilobite, an extinct type of marine arthopod, from the Ordovician age.
The Dunkleosteus terrelli is the state’s fish fossil. It is an extinct arthrodire fish from the Devonian age.
Oklahoma
The Saurophaganax maximus is Oklahoma’s state fossil. It is a theropod dinosaur from the Jurassic age.
The Acrocanthosaurus atokensis is the official dinosaur of Oklahoma.
Oregon
The Metasequoia is Oregon’s state fossil. It is a conifer leaf from the Miocene age.
Pennsylvania
The Phacops rana is Pennsylvania’s state fossil. It is a trilobite, an extinct type of marine arthopod, from the Devonian age.
South Carolina
The Mammoth pigeon is South Carolina’s state fossil. It is a Columbian mammoth from the Pleistocene age.
South Dakota
The The horrible triceratops is South Dakota’s state fossil. It is a horned dinosaur from the Cretaceous age.
Tennessee
The Pterotrigonia thoracica is Tennessee’s state fossil. It is a mollusk from the Cretaceous age.
Texas
The Sauroposeidon from the early Cretaceous ageis Texas’ state dinosaur. It replaced the Pleurocoeluswhich was the state’s former official dinosaur. This fossil was initially misidentified and turned out to be different.
Petrified palm wood is Texas’ state stone.
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Utah
The Allosaurus fragile is Utah’s state fossil. It is a dinosaur from the Jurassic period.
The state dinosaur of Utah is the Utahraptor ostrommaysoruma carnivorous bipedal dinosaur from the early Cretaceous age.
Vermont
Vermont has two state fossils: the Charlotte whale and the The original mammoth.
The Charlotte whale was Vermont’s official state fossil from 1993 to 2014, until it was designated as the state’s marine fossil. It is a skeleton of a beluga whale that was found in 1849 in Charlotte, Vermont.
The state’s official terrestrial fossil is the The original mammoth, a woolly mammoth from the Pleistocene age.
Virginia
The Chesapecten jeffersonius is the state fossil of Virginia. It is a scallop from the Cenozoic age.
Washington
The Mammoth pigeon is Washington’s state fossil. It is a Columbian mammoth from the Pleistocene age.
West Virginia
The Megalonyx jeffersonii is West Virginia’s state fossil. It is a Jefferson’s ground sloth from the late Pleistocene age.
Wisconsin
The Calymene celebra is Wisconsin’s state fossil. It is a trilobitean extinct type of marine arthopod, from the Silurian age.
Wyoming
The Knightia is Wyoming’s state fossil. It is an extinct bony fish from the Eocene age.
The The horrible triceratops is Wyoming’s official dinosaur.
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