List of U.S. state fossils
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Statefossil_2016-02-02.png/300px-Statefossil_2016-02-02.png)
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[]
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] |
Kansas | Cretaceous | Pteranodon (state flying fossil) and Tylosaurus (state marine fossil)[4] |
Pteranodon longiceps and T. kansasensis | ![]() ![]() |
2014[5] |
Kentucky | Ordovician– Pennsylvanian |
Brachiopod | undetermined | ![]() |
1986[6] |
Louisiana | Oligocene | Petrified palmwood | Palmoxylon | 1976[7] | |
Maine | Devonian | Pertica plant | Pertica quadrifaria | ![]() |
1976 |
Maryland | Miocene | Ecphora gardnerae shell |
Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae |
![]() |
1984 (name revised, 1994)[8] |
Massachusetts | Jurassic | Dinosaur tracks | Eubrontes giganteus | ||
Michigan | Holocene | American mastodon | Mammut americanum | ![]() |
2002 |
Mississippi | Eocene | Basilosaurus and Zygorhiza whales |
Basilosaurus cetoides Zygorhiza kochii |
![]() ![]() |
1981[9] |
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[10][11] | Shonisaurus popularis | ![]() |
1977 (designated) 1988 (amended) |
New Jersey | Cretaceous | Duck-billed dinosaur | Hadrosaurus foulkii | ![]() |
|
New Mexico | Triassic | Coelophysis | Coelophysis bauri | ![]() |
1981 |
New York | Silurian | Sea scorpion | Eurypterus remipes | ![]() |
1984 |
North Carolina | Miocene- Pliocene | Shark tooth | Carcharocles megalodon | 2013[12] | |
North Dakota | Paleocene | Shipworm-bored petrified wood |
Teredo petrified wood | ||
Ohio | Ordovician | Trilobite | Isotelus maximus (Fossil invertebrate) | 1985[13] | |
Devonian | Dunkleosteus | Dunkleosteus terrelli (Fossil Fish) | ![]() |
2021[14] | |
Oklahoma | Jurassic | Saurophaganax | Saurophaganax maximus | ![]() |
2000[15] |
Oregon | Eocene | Dawn redwood | Metasequoia glyptostroboides |
2005 | |
Pennsylvania | Devonian | Trilobite | Phacops rana | ![]() |
1988 |
South Carolina | Pleistocene | Columbian mammoth | Mammuthus columbi | ![]() |
2014[16] |
South Dakota | Cretaceous | Triceratops | Triceratops horridus | ![]() |
|
Tennessee | Cretaceous | Bivalve | Pterotrigonia thoracica | ||
Utah | Jurassic | Allosaurus | Allosaurus fragilis (Utahraptor ostrommaysorum is the state dinosaur of Utah as of 2018) | ![]() |
1988[17] |
Vermont | Pleistocene | Beluga whale (redesignated as state marine fossil in 2014) | Delphinapterus leucas | ![]() |
1993[18][19] |
Pleistocene | Woolly mammoth tooth and tusk (state terrestrial fossil) |
Mammuthus primigenius | ![]() |
2014[19][20] | |
Virginia | Cenozoic | scallop | Chesapecten jeffersonius | ![]() |
1993 |
Washington | Pleistocene | Columbian mammoth | Mammuthus columbi | ![]() |
1998[21] |
West Virginia | Late Pleistocene | Jefferson's ground sloth | Megalonyx jeffersonii | ![]() |
2008[22] |
Wisconsin | Silurian | Trilobite | Calymene celebra | ![]() |
1985[23] |
Wyoming | Eocene | Knightia | Knightia spp. | ![]() |
February 18, 1987 |
Candidate or considered fossils[]
For fossils that were candidates or were considered for states.
State federal district or territory |
Age | Common name | Binomial nomenclature |
Image | Adoption date |
---|
States lacking a state fossil[]
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Crinoid[26]
- Minnesota
- New Hampshire
- American mastodon (Mammut americanum)[28]
- Rhode Island
See also[]
- List of U.S. state dinosaurs
- List of U.S. state minerals, rocks, and gemstones
- Lists of U.S. state insignia
References[]
- ^ "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
- ^ https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/state-fossils/18626
- ^ "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.
- ^ Fossil whale: State Fossil of Mississippi (PDF), Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, 1991, retrieved May 9, 2019
- ^ https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/nevada/state-dinosaur-fossil/ichthyosaur
- ^ http://www.ereferencedesk.com/resources/state-fossil/nevada.html
- ^ "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
- ^ "5.078 Official fossil fish of the state", Ohio Revised Code, retrieved February 9, 2021
- ^ "Oklahoma State Fossil | Saurophaganax Maximus". statesymbolsusa.org. Retrieved January 30, 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.
- ^ Jump up to: 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.
- ^ "Indiana State Fossil". 500 Earth Sciences CLub. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ Polly, D., 2012. Crinoids from Cambrian to Crawfordsville. 500 Earth Sciences Lecture Series.
- ^ "Iowa to consider recognizing official state fossil". The Seattle Times. January 23, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Minnesota State Symbols—Unofficial, Proposed, or Facetious". Minnesota Legislature.
- ^ Carlson, Brady (January 6, 2015). "Granite Geek: Will The Mastodon Become New Hampshire's Official State Fossil?". New Hampshire Public Radio.
External links[]
- [1] List of U.S. state fossils, from National Park Service.
Categories:
- Fossils of the United States
- Lists of United States state symbols
- Paleontology lists
- United States science-related lists