STATE

FOSSIL

DESCRIPTION

Alabama

Basilosaurus cetoides

Archaeocete whale; Eocene.

Alaska

Mammuthus primigenius

Woolly Mammoth; Pleistocene.

Arizona

Araucarioxylon arizonicum

Petrified Wood; Triassic. Remains found in Petrified Forest National Park.

Arkansas

NONE

California

Smilodon fatalis

Saber Tooth Cat; Pleistocene. Remains found in Rancho LaBrea Tarpits, Los Angeles.

Colorado

Stegosaurus stenops

Herbivorous Dinosaur; Jurassic. Remains found in Colorado’s Morrison Formation. Officially known as "State Dinosaur."

Connecticut

Eubrontes giganteus

Dinosaur Tracks; Triassic. Found at Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, CT. One of the first recognized dinosaur tracks.

Delaware

Belemnite americana

Belemnite; Cretaceous. A type of cephalopod.

Florida

Eupatagus antillarum

Sea Urchin; Eocene. State Stone known as Agatized coral; genus/species/time unspecified.

Georgia

Carcharadon megalodon Teeth

Shark;Tertiary. Remains are frequently found washed up on Georgian beaches.

Hawaii

NONE

Idaho

Equus simplicidens

Horse; Pliocene. Known as "Hagerman’s Horse Fossil." Found at one of the world’s best preserved Pliocene fossil sites.

Illinois

Tullimonstrum gregarium

Wormlike Animal; Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian). Known commonly as Tully Monster. Originally discovered by Francis Tully near Braidwood, Illinois. Ancestry and relatives unknown.

Indiana

NONE

Note: The Crinoid Cyathocrinites multibrachiatus has been proposed.

Iowa

NONE

Kansas

NONE

Kentucky

Brachiopod

Genus/Species Unspecified; Ordovician (Paleozoic)

Louisiana

Palmoxylon sp.

Petrified Palmwood; Oligocene

Maine

Pertica quadrifaria

Early Vascular Land Plant; Devonian

Maryland

Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae and Astrodon johnstoni

Gastropod; Miocene. Astrodon, Sauropod dinosaur; Cretaceous is known as the "State Dinosaur."

Massachusetts

Dinosaur Tracks

Genus/Species Unspecified; Triassic. Massachusetts tracks similar to those in Connecticut.

Michigan

NONE

State Stone is the Hexagonaria percarinata . Coral; Devonian. Known by the nickname "Petoskey Stone."

Minnesota

NONE

Note: Casturoides ohioensis, a giant beaver, has been proposed.

Mississippi

Zygorhiza kochii

Archaeocete whale; Eocene.

State Stone is also listed as petrified wood (genus/species unspecified).

Missouri

Delocrinus missouriensis

Crinoid; Carboniferous

Montana

Maiasaura peeblesorum

Herbivorous duckbilled dinosaur; Cretaceous. Originally discovered by Jack Horner and Bob Makela near Choteau, Montana. Showed evidence of parental care in dinosaurs.

Nebraska

Mammuthus imperator mailbeni

Mammoth; Pleistocene.

Nevada

Shonisaurus popularis

Ichthyosaur; Triassic.

New Hampshire

NONE

New Jersey

Hadrosaurus foulki

Herbivorous duckbilled dinosaur; Cretaceous. First dinosaur skeleton found in the United States.

New Mexico

Coelophysis bauri

Predatory dinosaur; Triassic. Remains found at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. Dinosaurs thought to have drowned in flood. Showed signs of cannibalism.

New York

Eurypterus remipes

Eurypterid; Silurian. Giant sea scorpion.

North Carolina

NONE

North Dakota

Teredo Petrified Wood

Petrified Wood; Paleocene.

Ohio

Isotelus sp.

Trilobite; Ordovician.

Oklahoma

NONE

Oregon

NONE

Pennsylvania

Phacops rana

Trilobite; Devonian

Rhode Island

NONE

South Carolina

NONE

South Dakota

Triceratops prorosus

Herbivorous dinosaur; Cretaceous. Until 1988, the state fossil was the cycad.

Tennessee

NONE

Note: Legislation has been introduced to make a gastropod (Pterotrigonia thoracica) the state fossil.

Texas

Pleurocoelus sp.

Sauropod dinosaur; Cretaceous. Officially listed as "State Dinosaur." State Stone is listed as Palmoxylon sp. Petrified Palmwood; Oligocene.

Utah

Allosaurus fragilis

Predatory dinosaur; Jurassic. Remains common in Utah.

Vermont

Delphinapterus leucas

Beluga Whale; Pleistocene. Known by the nickname "The Vermont Whale."

Virginia

Chesapecten jeffersonius

Pelecypod; Pliocene. Named for Thomas Jefferson. Many specimens were uncovered due to the rains and winds of Hurricane Floyd.

Washington

Mammuthus columbi

Columbian Mammoth; Pleistocene. State gem is petrified wood (genus/species unspecified); Tertiary.

West Virginia

NONE

State gem is listed as Lithostrotionella sp. Rugose coral; Mississippian.

Wisconsin

Calymene celebra

Trilobite; Silurian.

Wyoming

Knightia sp. and Triceratops

Fish (Fresh Water Herring); Eocene. Found in the Green River outcrops. Listed officially as "State Fossil." Triceratops, Herbivorous dinosaur; Cretaceous, is officially listed as "State Dinosaur."