Below is a list of Official State Fossils that I have compiled after searching the Internet, looking at various publications, and making direct inquiries with state agencies. Information about the state fossils is listed in the order of common name, genus and species, and age. In cases, where an Official State Fossil has not been named, but a fossil has been named as a State Gem, Stone, etc., this fossil is listed in place of a state fossil.
1. Alabama - archaeocete whale, Basilosaurus cetoides, Eocene 2. Alaska - woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, Pleistocene 3. Arizona - petrified wood, Araucarioxylon arizonicum, Triassic 4. Arkansas - none 5. California - sabertooth cat, Smilodon fatalis, Pleistocene 6. Colorado - dinosaur, Stegosaurus stenops, Jurassic 7. Connecticut - gigantic, three-toed dinosaur track, Eubrontes giganteus, Triassic 8. Delaware - belemnite (cephalopod), Belemnite americana, Cretaceous 9. Florida - (State Stone - agatized coral, Anthozoa) 10. Georgia - shark's tooth, genus and species unspecified, Tertiary 11. Hawaii - none 12. Idaho - Hagerman Horse Fossil, Equus simplicidens (originally described as Plesippus shoshonensis), Pliocene 13. Illinois - Tully Monster, Tullimonstrum gregarium, Carboniferous 14. Indiana - none 15. Iowa - none 16. Kansas - none 17. Kentucky - brachiopod, genus and species unspecified, Paleozoic 18. Louisiana - petrified palmwood, Palmoxylon sp., Oligocene 19. Maine - early vascular land plant, Pertica quadrifaria, Devonian 20. Maryland - gastropod, Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae, Miocene 21. Massachusetts - dinosaur tracks, Eubrontes giganteus, Triassic 22. Michigan - mastodon, Mammut americanum, Pleistocene (State Stone) - Petoskey Stone, Hexagonaria percarinata, Devonian 23. Minnesota - none 24. Mississippi - archaeocete whale, Zygorhiza kochii, Eocene (State stone - petrified wood) 25. Missouri - crinoid, Delocrinus missouriensis, Carboniferous 26. Montana - duck-billed dinosaur, Maiasaura peeblesorum, Cretaceous 27. Nebraska - mammoth, Mammuthus imperator mailbeni, Pleistocene 28. Nevada - ichthyosaur, Shonisaurus popularis, Triassic 29. New Hampshire - none 30. New Jersey - dinosaur (Hadrosaur), Hadrosaurus foulki, Cretaceous 31. New Mexico - dinosaur, Coelophysis bauri, Triassic 32. New York - eurypterid, Eurypterus remipes, Silurian 33. North Carolina - none 34. North Dakota - Teredo Petrified Wood, Paleocene 35. Ohio - trilobite, Isotelus sp., Ordovician 36. Oklahoma - theropod dinosaur, Saurophaganax maximus, Jurrasic 37. Oregon - tree, Metasequoia sp., Miocene 38. Pennsylvania - trilobite, Phacops rana, Devonian 39. Rhode Island - none 40. South Carolina - none 41. South Dakota - dinosaur, Triceratops prorosus, Cretaceous NOTE: back in 1988 the state fossil was the cycad, Cycadopsida. 42. Tennessee - clam, Pterotrigonia thoracica, Cretaceous 43. Texas (State Stone) - petrified palmwood, Palmoxylon sp., Oligocene State Dinosaur - Brachiosaur Sauropod, Pleurocoelus sp., Cretaceous. 44. Utah - dinosaur, Allosaurus fragilis, Jurassic 45. Vermont - Charlotte, The Vermont Whale (beluga whale), Delphinapterus leucas, Pleistocene 46. Virginia - pelecypod, Chesapecten jeffersonius, Pliocene 47. Washington - Columbian Mammoth, Mammuthus columbi, Pleistocene (State Gem - petrified wood, genus and species unspecified, Tertiary) 48. West Virginia (State Gem) - rugose coral, Lithostrotionella sp., Mississippian 49. Wisconsin - trilobite, Calymene celebra, Silurian 50. Wyoming - State Fossil - fresh-water herring, Knightia sp., Eocene State Dinosaur - dinosaur, Triceratops, Cretaceous51. District of Columbia, dinosaur, "Capitalsaurus", Cretaceous
U.S. state fossil has an extensive listing of fossils,
state and otherwise, for each state.
State Gems, Minerals, Rocks, and Stones
Copyright © 1996-2008 Paul V. Heinrich All rights reserved.