List of U.S. state fossils Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_fossils

Map showing which states have state fossils (in blue; states without fossils are gray.)

Most American states have made a state fossil designation, in many cases during the 1980s. It is common to designate one species in which fossilization has occurred, rather than a single specimen, or a category of fossils not limited to a single species.

Some states that lack an explicit state fossil have nevertheless singled out a fossil for formal designation as a state dinosaur, rock, gem or stone.

Table of state fossils[edit]

State federal district or territory	Age	Common name	Binomial nomenclature	Image	Adoption date
Alabama	Eocene	Basilosaurus whale	Basilosaurus cetoides		1984^[1]
Alaska	Pleistocene	Woolly mammoth	Mammuthus primigenius
Arizona	Triassic	Petrified wood	Araucarioxylon arizonicum
California	Pleistocene	Saber-toothed cat	Smilodon fatalis
Colorado	Jurassic	Stegosaurus	Stegosaurus armatus		1982-04-28
Connecticut	Jurassic	Dinosaur tracks	Eubrontes giganteus		1991
Delaware	Cretaceous	Belemnite	Belemnitella americana		1996-07-02
District of Columbia	Cretaceous	"Capitalsaurus" (state dinosaur)	nomen nudum only		1998
Florida	Eocene	Agatized coral (state stone)	Cnidaria, Anthozoa		1979
Georgia	Cretaceous– Miocene	Shark tooth	undetermined		1976^[2]
Idaho	Pliocene	Hagerman horse	Equus simplicidens
Illinois	Pennsylvanian	Tully monster	Tullimonstrum gregarium		1989^[3]
Indiana	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum		2022^[4]
Kansas	Cretaceous	Pteranodon (state flying fossil)^[5]	Pteranodon longiceps		2014^[6]
Kansas	Cretaceous	Tylosaurus (state marine fossil)^[7]	Tylosaurus kansasensis		2014^[8]
Kentucky	Ordovician– Pennsylvanian	Brachiopod	undetermined		1986^[9]
Louisiana	Oligocene	Petrified palmwood	Palmoxylon		1976^[10]
Maine	Devonian	Pertica plant	Pertica quadrifaria		1976
Maryland	Miocene	Ecphora gardnerae shell	Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae		1984 (name revised, 1994)^[11]
Massachusetts	Jurassic	Dinosaur tracks	Eubrontes giganteus
Michigan	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum		2002
Minnesota	Quaternary	Giant beaver	Castoroides^[12]		2021
Mississippi	Eocene	"Prehistoric whale"	Zygorhiza kochii		1981^[13]
Missouri	Pennsylvanian	Sea lily	Delocrinus missouriensis		1989
Montana	Cretaceous	Duck-billed dinosaur	Maiasaura peeblesorum
Nebraska	Pleistocene	Woolly mammoth Columbian mammoth Imperial mammoth	Mammuthus primigenius Mammuthus columbi Mammuthus imperator
Nevada	Triassic	Ichthyosaur^[14]^[15]	Shonisaurus popularis		1977 (designated) 1988 (amended)
New Jersey	Cretaceous	Duck-billed dinosaur	Hadrosaurus foulkii	Hadrosaurus reconstruction
New Mexico	Triassic	Coelophysis	Coelophysis bauri		1981
New York	Silurian	Sea scorpion	Eurypterus remipes		1984
North Carolina	Miocene- Pliocene	Shark tooth	Otodus megalodon	Otodus megalodon tooth	2013^[16]
North Dakota	Paleocene	Shipworm-bored petrified wood	Teredo petrified wood
Ohio	Ordovician	Trilobite	Isotelus maximus (Fossil invertebrate)		1985^[17]
Ohio	Devonian	Dunkleosteus	Dunkleosteus terrelli (Fossil Fish)		2021^[18]
Oklahoma	Jurassic	Saurophaganax	Saurophaganax maximus		2000^[19]
Oregon	Eocene	Dawn redwood	Metasequoia		2005
Pennsylvania	Devonian	Trilobite	Phacops rana		1988^[20]
South Carolina	Pleistocene	Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi		2014^[21]
South Dakota	Cretaceous	Triceratops	Triceratops horridus
Tennessee	Cretaceous	Bivalve	Pterotrigonia thoracica
Utah	Jurassic	Allosaurus	Allosaurus fragilis		1988^[22]
Utah	Early Cretaceous	Utahraptor (state dinosaur)	Utahraptor ostrommaysorum		2018
Vermont	Pleistocene	Beluga whale (redesignated as state marine fossil in 2014)	Delphinapterus leucas		1993^[23]^[24]
Vermont	Pleistocene	Woolly mammoth tooth and tusk (state terrestrial fossil)	Mammuthus primigenius		2014^[24]^[25]
Virginia	Cenozoic	scallop	Chesapecten jeffersonius		1993
Washington	Pleistocene	Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi		1998^[26]
West Virginia	Late Pleistocene	Jefferson's ground sloth	Megalonyx jeffersonii		2008^[27]
Wisconsin	Silurian	Trilobite	Calymene celebra		1985^[28]
Wyoming	Eocene	Knightia	Knightia spp.		February 18, 1987

States lacking a state fossil[edit]

Hawaii
Iowa
- The crinoid was proposed in 2018.^[29]
New Hampshire
- The American mastodon (Mammut americanum) was considered in 2015.^[30]
Rhode Island

References[edit]

^ "Official State of Alabama Fossil". Alabama Emblems, Symbols and Honors. Alabama Department of Archives & History. August 2, 2005. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
^ "Georgia State Fossil". State Symbols, State Fossil. e-Reference Desk. March 30, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
^ Illinois State Symbols, Department of Natural Resources, retrieved May 20, 2019
^ Indiana lawmakers name mastodon as first state fossil, WHAS-TV, Associated Press, February 19, 2022, retrieved February 21, 2022
^ "State Fossils - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society".
^ "List of State Fossils". State Symbols, State Fossil. Fossilera. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
^ "State Fossils - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society".
^ "List of State Fossils". State Symbols, State Fossil. Fossilera. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
^ "Kentucky State Symbols". Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives. March 30, 2007. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2007.
^ "Louisiana State Fossil". State Symbols, State Fossil. e-Reference Desk. March 8, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
^ "Maryland's Official State Fossil Shell". Maryland Geological Survey. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
^ "Giant Beaver edges out competition to become Minnesota's State Fossil". kare11.com. October 14, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
^ Fossil whale: State Fossil of Mississippi (PDF), Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, 1991, retrieved May 9, 2019
^ "Nevada State Fossil | Ichthyosaur".
^ "Nevada State Fossil: Ichthyosaur (Genus Shonisaurus)".
^ "Fossil, Fossilized Teeth of the Megalodon Shark | NCpedia". ncpedia.org. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
^ "5.071 State invertebrate fossil", Ohio Revised Code, retrieved February 9, 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ "5.078 Official fossil fish of the state", Ohio Revised Code, retrieved February 9, 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ "Oklahoma State Fossil | Saurophaganax Maximus". statesymbolsusa.org. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
^ Official State Fossil – Phaecops rana (PDF), Pennsylvania Legislature, December 5, 1988, retrieved September 28, 2021
^ "South Carolina Fossil". WLTX. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
^ Utah State Fossil - Allosaurus from pioneer.utah.gov "Pioneer - Utah's Online Library" page. Retrieved on September 8, 2008
^ Vermont has both a state terrestrial fossil and a state marine fossil.
^ ^a ^b "Vermont State Terrestrial Fossil". E Reference Desk. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
^ "Mammoth Tusk Discovered 1865". Brattleboro History. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
^ http://leg.wa.gov/Symbols/ WA State Symbols
^ http://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x112312085 Manchins signs bills involving snakes, fossils, research into law
^ "Wisconsin State Symbols". State of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on January 12, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
^ "Iowa to consider recognizing official state fossil". The Seattle Times. January 23, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ Carlson, Brady (January 6, 2015). "Granite Geek: Will The Mastodon Become New Hampshire's Official State Fossil?". New Hampshire Public Radio.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[edit]

[1] List of U.S. state fossils, from National Park Service.

[1] "Official State of Alabama Fossil". Alabama Emblems, Symbols and Honors. Alabama Department of Archives & History. August 2, 2005. Retrieved March 19, 2007.

[2] "Georgia State Fossil". State Symbols, State Fossil. e-Reference Desk. March 30, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2014.

[3] Illinois State Symbols, Department of Natural Resources, retrieved May 20, 2019

[4] Indiana lawmakers name mastodon as first state fossil, WHAS-TV, Associated Press, February 19, 2022, retrieved February 21, 2022

[5] "State Fossils - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society".

[6] "List of State Fossils". State Symbols, State Fossil. Fossilera. Retrieved September 1, 2015.

[7] "State Fossils - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society".

[8] "List of State Fossils". State Symbols, State Fossil. Fossilera. Retrieved September 1, 2015.

[9] "Kentucky State Symbols". Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives. March 30, 2007. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2007.

[10] "Louisiana State Fossil". State Symbols, State Fossil. e-Reference Desk. March 8, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.

[11] "Maryland's Official State Fossil Shell". Maryland Geological Survey. Retrieved February 16, 2017.

[12] "Giant Beaver edges out competition to become Minnesota's State Fossil". kare11.com. October 14, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2021.

[13] Fossil whale: State Fossil of Mississippi (PDF), Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, 1991, retrieved May 9, 2019

[14] "Nevada State Fossil | Ichthyosaur".

[15] "Nevada State Fossil: Ichthyosaur (Genus Shonisaurus)".

[16] "Fossil, Fossilized Teeth of the Megalodon Shark | NCpedia". ncpedia.org. Retrieved March 17, 2016.

[17] "5.071 State invertebrate fossil", Ohio Revised Code, retrieved February 9, 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[18] "5.078 Official fossil fish of the state", Ohio Revised Code, retrieved February 9, 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[19] "Oklahoma State Fossil | Saurophaganax Maximus". statesymbolsusa.org. Retrieved January 30, 2021.

[20] Official State Fossil – Phaecops rana (PDF), Pennsylvania Legislature, December 5, 1988, retrieved September 28, 2021

[21] "South Carolina Fossil". WLTX. Retrieved May 28, 2014.

[22] Utah State Fossil - Allosaurus from pioneer.utah.gov "Pioneer - Utah's Online Library" page. Retrieved on September 8, 2008

[23] Vermont has both a state terrestrial fossil and a state marine fossil.

[vt-24] "Vermont State Terrestrial Fossil". E Reference Desk. Retrieved March 17, 2018.

[bratt-25] "Mammoth Tusk Discovered 1865". Brattleboro History. Retrieved March 17, 2018.

[26] ttp://leg.wa.gov/Symbols/ WA State Symbols

[27] ttp://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x112312085 Manchins signs bills involving snakes, fossils, research into law

[28] "Wisconsin State Symbols". State of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on January 12, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2011.

[29] "Iowa to consider recognizing official state fossil". The Seattle Times. January 23, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[30] Carlson, Brady (January 6, 2015). "Granite Geek: Will The Mastodon Become New Hampshire's Official State Fossil?". New Hampshire Public Radio.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

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List of U.S. state fossils Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_fossils

Contents

Table of state fossils[edit]

States lacking a state fossil[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]