List of U.S. state fossils explained

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]

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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	-						-->
Indiana	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum		2022^[9]
Kansas	Cretaceous	Pteranodon (state flying fossil)^[10]	Pteranodon longiceps		2014^[11]
	Cretaceous	Tylosaurus (state marine fossil)^[12]	Tylosaurus kansasensis		2014^[13]
Kentucky	Ordovician - Pennsylvanian	Brachiopod	undetermined		1986^[14]
Louisiana	Oligocene	Petrified palmwood	Palmoxylon		1976^[15]
Maine	Devonian	Pertica plant	Pertica quadrifaria		1976
Maryland	Miocene	Ecphora gardnerae shell	Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae		1984 (name revised, 1994)^[16]
Massachusetts	Jurassic	Dinosaur tracks	Eubrontes giganteus		1980^[17]
Michigan	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum		2002
Mississippi	Eocene	"Prehistoric whale"	Zygorhiza kochii		1981
Missouri	Pennsylvanian	Sea lily	Delocrinus missouriensis		1989^[18]
Montana	Cretaceous	Hadrosaur	Maiasaura peeblesorum		1985^[19]
Nebraska	Pleistocene	Woolly mammoth Columbian mammoth Imperial mammoth	Mammuthus primigenius Mammuthus columbi Mammuthus imperator		1967^[20] ^[21]
New Jersey	Cretaceous	Hadrosaur	Hadrosaurus foulkii		1991^[22] ^[23]
Nevada	Triassic	Ichthyosaur^[24] ^[25]	Shonisaurus popularis		1977 (designated) 1988 (amended)	-						-->
New Mexico	Triassic	Coelophysis	Coelophysis bauri		1981^[26] ^[27]
New York	Silurian	Sea scorpion	Eurypterus remipes		1984
North Carolina	Miocene- Pliocene	Shark tooth	Otodus megalodon		2013^[28]
North Dakota	Paleocene	Shipworm-bored petrified wood	Teredo petrified wood		1967^[29] ^[30]
Ohio	Ordovician	Trilobite	Isotelus maximus (Fossil invertebrate)		1985
	Devonian	Dunkleosteus	Dunkleosteus terrelli (Fossil Fish)		2021
Oklahoma	Jurassic	Saurophaganax	Saurophaganax maximus		2000^[31]
Oregon	Eocene	Dawn redwood	Metasequoia		2005
Pennsylvania	Devonian	Trilobite	Phacops rana		1988
Rhode Island	Paleozoic	Trilobite	Genus and species not stated^[32]		2023^[33]
South Carolina	Pleistocene	Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi		2014^[34]
South Dakota	Cretaceous	Triceratops	Triceratops horridus		1988^[35]
Tennessee	Cretaceous	Bivalve	Pterotrigonia thoracica		1998^[36]
Utah	Jurassic	Allosaurus	Allosaurus fragilis		1988^[37]
Vermont	Pleistocene	Beluga whale (redesignated as state marine fossil in 2014)	Delphinapterus leucas		1993^[38] ^[39]
	Pleistocene	Woolly mammoth tooth and tusk (state terrestrial fossil)	Mammuthus primigenius		2014^[40]
Virginia	Cenozoic	scallop	Chesapecten jeffersonius		1993
Washington	Pleistocene	Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi		1998^[41]
West Virginia	Late Pleistocene	Jefferson's ground sloth	Megalonyx jeffersonii		2008^[42]
Wisconsin	Silurian	Trilobite	Calymene celebra		1985^[43]
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

External links

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Arkansas State Fossil - Arkansaurus - While Arkansas does not officially have a state fossil it does have a state dinosaur . August 31, 2024 . State Symbols, State Fossil . Fossilera.
2. Web site: January 23, 2018. Iowa to consider recognizing official state fossil. The Seattle Times.
3. Web site: Giant Beaver swamps competition to be Minnesota state fossil . September 15, 2022 . MPR News . October 13, 2021 . en.
4. News: Carlson. Brady. January 6, 2015. Granite Geek: Will The Mastodon Become New Hampshire's Official State Fossil?. New Hampshire Public Radio.
5. Web site: Texas State Symbols . . December 13, 2017.
6. Web site: Official State of Alabama Fossil . March 19, 2007 . August 2, 2005 . Alabama Emblems, Symbols and Honors . Alabama Department of Archives & History . December 30, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071230022941/http://www.archives.state.al.us/emblems/st_fosil.html . dead .
7. Web site: March 30, 2014 . Georgia State Fossil . dead . March 30, 2014 . State Symbols, State Fossil . e-Reference Desk . March 2, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120302030035/http://www.e-referencedesk.com/resources/state-fossil/georgia.html .
8. https://sos.idaho.gov/state-emblems/ The Hagerman horse at the Idaho official list of state emblems
9. News: Indiana lawmakers name mastodon as first state fossil . . WHAS-TV. February 19, 2022 . February 21, 2022.
10. Web site: State Fossils - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society .
11. Web site: List of State Fossils . September 1, 2015 . State Symbols, State Fossil . Fossilera.
12. Web site: State Fossils - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society .
13. Web site: List of State Fossils . September 1, 2015 . State Symbols, State Fossil . Fossilera.
14. Web site: Kentucky State Symbols . Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives . March 30, 2007 . July 2, 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110128223448/http://kdla.ky.gov/resources/KYSymbols.htm . January 28, 2011.
15. Web site: Louisiana State Fossil . March 8, 2015 . March 8, 2015 . State Symbols, State Fossil . e-Reference Desk.
16. Web site: Maryland's Official State Fossil Shell . Maryland Geological Survey. February 16, 2017.
17. https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/massachusetts/state-dinosaur-fossil/dinosaur-tracks Official state fossil of Massachusetts in "State Symbols USA"
18. "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
19. " 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
20. Web site: USA . State Symbols . 2014-10-05 . Mammoth State Fossil State Symbols USA . 2024-10-11 . statesymbolsusa.org . en.
21. Web site: Cenozoic fossils of Nebraska . 2024-10-11 . eas2.unl.edu.
22. Web site: Hadrosaurus Foulkii ("Haddy") Information . August 30, 2024 . Official website of the Borough of Haddonfield . Borough of Haddonfield .
23. Web site: The Story of New Jersey’s State Fossil: Hadrosaurus foulkii . August 30, 2024 . Official website of the Rutgers Geology Museum . Rutgers Geology Museum .
24. Web site: Nevada State Fossil | Ichthyosaur. May 28, 2014 .
25. Web site: Nevada State Fossil: Ichthyosaur (Genus Shonisaurus).
26. "About New Mexico - State Fossil", New Mexico's Secretary of State official website
27. "Coelophysis, the New Mexico State Fossil", at New Mexico Earth Matters, New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources official website
28. Web site: Fossil, Fossilized Teeth of the Megalodon Shark NCpedia. ncpedia.org. March 17, 2016.
29. Web site: North Dakota State Fossil - Teredo Petrified Wood . August 31, 2024 . State Symbols, State Fossil . Fossilera.
30. Web site: North Dakota State Fossil . August 31, 2024 . statesymbolsusa.org.
31. Web site: Oklahoma State Fossil Saurophaganax Maximus. January 30, 2021. statesymbolsusa.org. September 6, 2014 .
32. https://earthathome.org/hoe/us-earth-science-quick-facts/ri/ Rhode Island State Fossil: Trilobite - In 2022, Rhode Island designated trilobites (genus and species not stated) as the state fossil
33. Web site: 2023 Rhode Island General Laws Title 42 - State Affairs and Government Chapter 42-4 - State Emblems Section 42-4-23. - State fossil. . August 30, 2024 . US Law, official publication . Justia.com .
34. Web site: South Carolina Fossil . WLTX . May 28, 2014.
35. Web site: South Dakota State Fossil - Triceratops Horridus ; In 1988, the South Dakota state legislature designated the dinosaur Triceratops horridus as their state fossil . August 31, 2024 . State Symbols, State Fossil . Fossilera.
36. Web site: Tennesse State Fossil . August 31, 2024. statesymbolsusa.org.
37. http://pioneer.utah.gov/research/utah_symbols/fossil.html Utah State Fossil - Allosaurus
38. Vermont has both a state terrestrial fossil and a state marine fossil.
39. Web site: Vermont State Terrestrial Fossil. E Reference Desk. March 17, 2018.
40. Web site: Mammoth Tusk Discovered 1865. Brattleboro History. March 17, 2018.
41. http://leg.wa.gov/Symbols/ WA State Symbols
42. http://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x112312085 Manchins signs bills involving snakes, fossils, research into law
43. Web site: Wisconsin State Symbols . State of Wisconsin . December 19, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100112222837/http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/core/wisconsin_state_symbols.html . January 12, 2010.