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.

List of state fossils

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State	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
Connecticut	Jurassic	dinosaur tracks	Eubrontes giganteus
Delaware	Cretaceous	Belemnite	Belemnitella americana
District of Columbia	Cretaceous	"Capitalsaurus" (state dinosaur)	nomen nudum only
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 snail / gastropod	Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae
Massachusetts	Jurassic	dinosaur tracks	undetermined
Michigan	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum		2002
Mississippi	Eocene	Basilosaurus and Zygorhiza whales	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	Paleocene	shipworm-bored petrified wood	Teredo petrified wood
Ohio	Ordovician	trilobite	Isotelus maximus		1985
Oklahoma	Jurassic	Saurophaganax	Saurophaganax maximus
Oregon	Eocene	Dawn redwood	Metasequoia occidentalis		2005
Pennsylvania	Devonian	trilobite	Phacops rana		1988
South Dakota	Cretaceous	Triceratops	Triceratops horridus
Tennessee	Cretaceous	bivalve	Pterotrigonia thoracica
Texas	Cretaceous	Pleurocoelus (state dinosaur)	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

See also

• List of U.S. state dinosaurs
• List of U.S. state minerals, rocks, and gemstones
• Lists of U.S. state insignia

References

External links

• www.statefossils.com: a complete list of U.S. state fossils, with informative details