List of U.S. state fossils

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates 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.

Six 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• New Hampshire: The American mastodon (Mammut americanum) was considered in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Texas: There is no state fossil though the state dinosaur is Sauroposeidon proteles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Table of state fossils

State federal district or territory	Age	Common name	Binomial name	Image	Year adopted
Alabama	Eocene	Basilosaurus whale	Basilosaurus cetoides		1984<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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
Georgia	Cretaceous– Miocene	Shark tooth	undetermined	Error creating thumbnail:	1976<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Idaho	Pliocene	Hagerman horse	Equus simplicidens	File:Equus simplicidens mounted 02.jpg	1988<ref>The Hagerman horse at the Idaho official list of state emblems</ref>
Illinois	Pennsylvanian	Tully monster	Tullimonstrum gregarium	File:Tullimonstrum.jpg	1989<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Indiana	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum	File:Mammut skeleton Museum of the Earth.jpg	2022<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Kansas	Cretaceous	Pteranodon (state flying fossil)<ref name="kshs.org">Template:Cite web</ref>	Pteranodon longiceps	File:Pteranodon amnh martyniuk.jpg	2014<ref name="List of State Fossils">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Cretaceous	Tylosaurus (state marine fossil)<ref name="kshs.org"/>	Tylosaurus kansasensis	File:JVBA Mosasaur 6-09-2010.jpg	2014<ref name="List of State Fossils"/>
Kentucky	Ordovician– Pennsylvanian	Brachiopod	undetermined	File:Cincinnetina meeki (Miller, 1875) slab 3.jpg	1986<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Louisiana	Oligocene	Petrified palmwood	Palmoxylon	File:Petrified-Forest-Chemnitz4.JPG	1976<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Maine	Devonian	Pertica plant	Pertica quadrifaria	File:Pertica quadrifaria reconstruccion.jpg	1976
Maryland	Miocene	Ecphora gardnerae shell	Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae	File:Ecphora gardnerae.jpg	1984 (name revised, 1994)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Massachusetts	Jurassic	Dinosaur tracks	Eubrontes giganteus	File:Eubrontes giganteus (dinosaur footprint) (Longmeadown Formation, Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic; Mt. Tom Dinosaur Tracksite, Connecticut River Valley, Massachusetts, USA).jpg	1980<ref>Official state fossil of Massachusetts in "State Symbols USA"</ref>
Michigan	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum	File:Mammut skeleton Museum of the Earth.jpg	2002
Minnesota	Pleistocene	Giant beaver	Castoroides ohioensis	File:Giant Pleistocene Beaver, Castoroides ohioensis.jpg	2025<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Mississippi	Eocene	"Prehistoric whale"	Zygorhiza kochii	File:Zygorhiza kochii (early whale).jpg	1981<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Missouri	Pennsylvanian	Sea lily	Delocrinus missouriensis		1989<ref>"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</ref>
Montana	Cretaceous	Hadrosaur	Maiasaura peeblesorum	File:Maiasaura peeblesorum cast - University of California Museum of Paleontology - Berkeley, CA - DSC04688.JPG	1985<ref>"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</ref>
Nebraska	Pleistocene	Woolly mammoth Columbian mammoth Imperial mammoth	Mammuthus primigenius Mammuthus columbi Mammuthus imperator		1967<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
New Jersey	Cretaceous	Hadrosaur	Hadrosaurus foulkii	File:Hadrosaurus reconstruction.jpg	1991<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Nevada	Triassic	Ichthyosaur<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Shonisaurus popularis	File:Shonisaurus skull.jpg	1977 (designated) 1988 (amended)
New Mexico	Triassic	Coelophysis	Coelophysis bauri	File:Coelophysis mount NHM2.jpg	1981<ref>"About New Mexico - State Fossil", New Mexico's Secretary of State official website</ref><ref>"Coelophysis, the New Mexico State Fossil", at New Mexico Earth Matters, New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources official website</ref>
New York	Silurian	Sea scorpion	Eurypterus remipes	File:Eurypterus remipes 001.jpg	1984
North Carolina	Miocene- Pliocene	Shark tooth	Otodus megalodon	File:Carcharocles megalodon tooth.JPG	2013<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
North Dakota	Paleocene	Shipworm-bored petrified wood	Teredo petrified wood	File:Fossil (3963430788).jpg	1967<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Ohio	Ordovician	Trilobite	Isotelus maximus (Fossil invertebrate)	File:Isotelus brachycephalus.JPG	1985<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
	Devonian	Dunkleosteus	Dunkleosteus terrelli (Fossil Fish)	File:Dunkleosteus CMNH 5768 skull.png	2021<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Oklahoma	Jurassic	Saurophaganax	Saurophaganax maximus	File:Saurophaganax 2.jpg	2000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Oregon	Eocene	Dawn redwood	Metasequoia	File:Metasequoia branchlet 02.jpg	2005
Pennsylvania	Devonian	Trilobite	Phacops rana	File:Phacops rana.jpg	1988<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Rhode Island	Paleozoic	Trilobite	Genus and species not stated<ref>Rhode Island State Fossil: Trilobite - In 2022, Rhode Island designated trilobites (genus and species not stated) as the state fossil, published by Paleontological Research Institution.</ref>	File:Phacops rana.jpg	2023<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
South Carolina	Pleistocene	Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi	File:Mammuthus columbi Page.jpg	2014<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>
South Dakota	Cretaceous	Triceratops	Triceratops horridus	File:Triceratops2.png	1988<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Tennessee	Cretaceous	Bivalve	Pterotrigonia thoracica	File:Megatrigoniidae - Pterotrigonia caudata.JPG	1998<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Utah	Jurassic	Allosaurus	Allosaurus fragilis	File:Allosaurus skull SDNHM.jpg	1988<ref>Utah State Fossil - Allosaurus Template:Webarchive from pioneer.utah.gov "Pioneer - Utah's Online Library" page. Retrieved on September 8, 2008</ref>
Vermont	Pleistocene	Beluga whale (redesignated as state marine fossil in 2014)	Delphinapterus leucas	File:Squelette Delphinapterus leucas rdl.jpg	1993<ref>Vermont has both a state terrestrial fossil and a state marine fossil.</ref><ref name="vt">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Pleistocene	Woolly mammoth tooth and tusk (state terrestrial fossil)	Mammuthus primigenius	File:Estonian Museum of Natural History Specimen No 177574 photo (g21 g21-2 a jpg).jpg File:Dinosauria - Mammouth 01.jpg	2014<ref name=vt/><ref name="bratt">Template:Cite web</ref>
Virginia	Cenozoic	scallop	Chesapecten jeffersonius	File:Chesapecten Jeffersonius Inside.jpg	1993
Washington	Pleistocene	Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi	File:Mammuthus columbi Page.jpg	1998<ref>http://leg.wa.gov/Symbols/ WA State Symbols</ref>
West Virginia	Late Pleistocene	Jefferson's ground sloth	Megalonyx jeffersonii	File:Megalonyx jeffersonii - Natural History Museum of Utah - DSC07263.JPG	2008<ref>http://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x112312085 Manchins signs bills involving snakes, fossils, research into law</ref>
Wisconsin	Silurian	Trilobite	Calymene celebra	File:Calymene celebra Raymond, 1916.jpg	1985<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Wyoming	Eocene	Knightia	Knightia spp.	File:Knightia alta 01.jpg	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