List of U.S. state fossils

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

Most American states have a state fossil. Many times these were selected in the 1980s.

Some states do not have a state fossil.

List of state fossils

State Period Common name Binomial
nomenclature
Image Adoption date
Alabama Eocene Basilosaurus (early 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
Connecticut Jurassic dinosaur tracks Eubrontes giganteus  
Delaware Cretaceous Belemnite Belemnitella americana  
District of Columbia Cretaceous "Capitalsaurus"
(state dinosaur)
unused name  
Florida Eocene agatized coral
(state stone)
Cnidaria, Anthozoa
Georgia Cretaceous
Miocene
shark tooth undetermined  
Idaho Pliocene Hagerman horse Equus simplicidens  
Illinois Pennsylvanian Tully Monster Tullimonstrum gregarium  
Kentucky Ordovician
Pennsylvanian
Brachiopod undetermined   1986[2]
Louisiana Oligocene petrified palmwood Palmoxylon  
Maine Devonian Pertica plant Pertica quadrifaria  
Maryland Miocene Murex gastropod Ecphora gardnerae  
Massachusetts Jurassic Dinosaur tracks undetermined
Michigan Holocene American mastodon Mammut americanum   2002
Mississippi Eocene Basilosaurus
and Zygorhiza
Basilosaurus cetoides
Zygorhiza kochii
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 Shonisaurus Shonisaurus popularis  
New Jersey Cretaceous duck-billed dinosaur Hadrosaurus foulkii  
New Mexico Triassic Coelophysis Coelophysis bauri  
New York Silurian Sea scorpion Eurypterus remipes   1984
North Dakota Palaeocene shipworm-bored
petrified wood
Teredo petrified wood
Ohio Ordovician Trilobite Isotelus   1985
Oklahoma Jurassic Saurophaganax Saurophaganax maximus  
Oregon Eocene Dawn redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides   2005
Pennsylvania Devonian Trilobite Phacops rana   1988
South Dakota Cretaceous Triceratops Triceratops horridus  
Tennessee Cretaceous Bivalve Pterotrigonia thoracica
Texas Cretaceous Pleurocoelus Pleurocoelus nanus
Utah Jurassic Allosaurus Allosaurus fragilis   1988[3]
Vermont Pleistocene Beluga Whale Delphinapterus leucas   1993
Virginia Caenozoic Scallop Chesapecten jeffersonius   1993
Washington Pleistocene Columbian mammoth Mammuthus columbi   1998[4]
West Virginia Late Pleistocene Jefferson's ground sloth Megalonyx jeffersonii   2008[5]
Wisconsin Ordovician
Silurian
Trilobite Calymene celebra   1985[6]
Wyoming Eocene Knightia Knightia   18 February 1987

References

  1. "Official State of Alabama Fossil". Alabama Emblems, Symbols and Honors. Alabama Department of Archives & History. 2005-08-02. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  2. "Kentucky State Symbols". Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives. 2007-03-30. Archived from the original on 2007-07-31. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
  3. Utah State Fossil - Allosaurus Archived 2010-06-17 at the Wayback Machine from pioneer.utah.gov "Pioneer - Utah's Online Library" page. Retrieved on 2008-09-08
  4. http://www1.leg.wa.gov/Legislature/StateSymbols/ Archived 2007-03-05 at the Wayback Machine WA State Symbols
  5. http://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x112312085 Manchins signs bills involving snakes, fossils, research into law
  6. "Wisconsin State Symbols". State of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on 2010-01-12. Retrieved 2011-12-19.

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