National Fossil Day is upon us and what better way to celebrate than to showcase all of the official state fossils!
Alabama
The early whale Basilosaurus (ba-sill-O-sore-us) is the state fossil of Alabama. Fossils of the lizard-like whale have been found in the south western part of the state, crossing into Mississippi.
Alaska
It makes sense that the most common species of woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius (ma'am-muh-thus pry-me-genius), is the state fossil of Alaska. Whole tusks and sections of skin with hair still attached have been pulled out of the permafrost by gold miners.
Arizona
Petrified Forest National Park is one of the best places to see Arizona's state fossil, the ancient tree Araucarioxylon arizonicum (No idea how you pronounce that).
Arkansas
Arkansas does not have a designated state fossil, despite fossils having been discovered in the state.
California
Fossils of Smilodon fatalis (smile-low-don fay-tal-is) are extremely common in California. Most of them come from the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. Thousands of specimens have been pulled from the tar, more than any other fossil location.
Colorado
Representing its home state, Stegosaurus (steg-O-sore-us) is instantly recognizable by its distinctive plates and tail spikes.
Connecticut
Connecticut's state fossil is a set of footprints that have been given the name Eubrontes giganteus (you-bron-tez gy-gan-twos). Not much is known about the origin of these footprints, even the time period in which they originated is very vague.
Delaware
A relative of squid, octopie, and clams, Belemnitella americana (No clue how you pronounce that) swam the ocean during the Late Cretaceous period.
Florida
Florida does not have a designated state fossil, however, the official state stone of Florida is agatized coral. Agatized coral is very similar to petrified wood, in that both are replicas of once living things.
Georgia
Shark teeth are the designated state fossil of Georgia. Currently, the owner of the Georgia teeth is unknown.
Hawaii
Due to the young age of Hawaii, there have been very few fossils discovered on the islands. This means that Hawaii does not yet have a designated state fossil.
Idaho
Also known as the Hagerman Horse, Equus simplicidens (eck-cwus sim-plick-E-dens) is thought to have been very visually similar to the modern zebra.
Illinois
Looking like something out of a science fiction movie, our distant ancestor Tullimonstrum gregarium (Tully-mon-strum Greg-ar-E-um) is an ancient vertebrate from Illinois.
Indiana and Iowa
Like Arkansas, both Indiana and Iowa do not have a designated state fossil.
Kansas
Kansas has two state fossils, Pteranodon (tuh-ran-O-don)(top) and Tylosaurus (tie-low-sore-us)(bottom). Fossils of both of these creatures have been found extensively throughout the state.
Kentucky
Brachiopods (b-rack-E-O-pods) is a scientific term referring to clams, both living and extinct. The exact species representing Kentucky is unclassified.
Louisiana
A type of petrified palm wood, Palmoxylon (pal-moxy-lawn) can be found throughout the world.
Maine
Pertica quadrifaria (per-tick-uh quad-ree-far-E-uh) was a relative of ferns, but Pertica quadrifaria grew as big as a tree!
Maryland
Ecphora gardnerae (eck-for-a guard-na-ray) was a type of sea snail from the Miocene epoch, 23-5 million years ago.
Maryland
Strangely, Massachusetts has the same state fossil as Connecticut.
Michigan
A famous type of elephant, Mammut americanum (ma'am-mutt a-merry-con-um), commonly called the American mastodon, once roamed Michigan.
Minnesota
Several animals have been considered for the role of Minnesota's state fossil, including the giant beaver Castoroides (cast-tore-roid-dees). However, a state fossil has yet to be chosen.
Mississippi
Similar to Kansas, Mississippi has two state fossils. One is also the state fossil of Alabama, Basilosaurus. The other is another early whale called Zygorhiza kochii (zie-gore-hi-za coach-E).
Missouri
A type of sea lily, Delocrinus missouriensis (dell-O-cry-nuss Missouri-en-sis) is the state fossil of Missouri.
Montana
With a name meaning "good mother lizard", Maiasaura peeblesorum (my-a-sore-a pee-bowl-sore-um) is a famous hadrosaur (had-row-sore) from Montana.
Nebraska has a whopping three state fossils, all of which are mammoths. The largest of these mammoths is the massive Columbian mammoth, which stood 16 feet high at the shoulder.
Nebraska
Nevada
The only complete fossil of Shonisaurus popularis (show-knee-sore-us pop-you-L-air-iss) is from Nevada. The fossil measures 56 feet in length, making one of the largest ichthyosaur (ick-thee-O-sore) fossils in the world.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is yet another state without a designated state fossil.
New Jersey
New Mexico
A primitive dinosaur, the vast majority of Coelophysis bauri (see-low-fie-sis b-ow-ree) fossils come from the famous Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.
New York
One of the famous sea scorpions, Eurypterus remipes (you-rip-tear-us ree-me-pez) swam over New York during the Silurian period, 432-418 million years ago.
North Carolina
Fossil teeth of the giant shark Carcharocles megalodon (car-car-O-cleez mega-low-don) have been found along the coast of North Carolina's Pamlico Sound.
North Dakota
The teredo is a type mollusk that is distantly related to clams and muscle. It is highly specialized for burrowing into wood. Petrified wood from North Dakota shows that these animals were alive and well during the Cretaceous period and into the early Eocene epoch, 80-60 million years ago.
Ohio
The state fossil of Ohio, Isotelus maximus (I-so-tell-us max-E-mus) is the cousin of the worlds largest trilobite (try-low-bite) Isotelus rex.
Oklahoma
Measuring up to 40 feet in length, Saurophaganax maximus (sore-O-fag-anne-axe max-E-mus) was a big dinosaur. However, it is possible that Saurophaganax never existed. Fossils of this giant carnivore might actually belong to the famous Allosaurus (al-low-sore-us). If this is the case, Saurophaganax will cease to exist.
Oregon
Metasequoia glyptostroboides (met-a-se-koi-a g-lip-toe-st-row-boy-deez) is ancient species of dawn redwood, a tree that is alive today.
Pennsylvania
Phacops rana (fay-cops raw-naw) is a species of trilobite that can be found in both Pennsylvania and Morocco.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island is the final state without a designated state fossil.
South Carolina
North Carolina shares a state fossil with Nebraska in the form of the Columbian mammoth.
South Dakota
Before going extinct 65 million years ago, Triceratops horridus (try-s-air-a-tops horrid-us) was common throughout South Dakota.
Tennessee
Pterotrigonia thoracica (tear-O-try-go-knee-a Thor-a-see-ca) was a type of salt water clam from the middle Jurassic (165 mya) to the end of the Cretaceous period (65 mya).
Texas
Technically, Paluxysaurus jonesi (pa-lux-E-sore-us Jones-eye) is the designated state fossil of Texas. However, recently Paluxysaurus was combined into the genus Sauroposeidon (sore-O-po-side-on).
Utah
Commonly found throughout Utah, Allosaurus fragilis (al-low-sore-us fra-Jill-iss) had expandable jaws that allowed it to pull larger chunks of meat from its meals.
Vermont
The designated state fossil of Vermont is an animal that is still alive today, the beluga whale. A skeleton 11,000 years old was found during the construction of the first railroad between Rutland and Burlington in 1849.
Virginia
Chesapecten jeffersonius (chess-a-pec-ten Jeff-fur-Sony-us) is an extinct species of clam whose species name honors Thomas Jefferson.
Washington
Washington is yet another state that has designated the Columbian mammoth as its state fossil.
West Virginia
Megalonyx jeffersoni (mega-lawn-icks Jeff-fur-so-n-eye) was one of the first extinct animals to be discovered in the United States. Thomas Jefferson told Meriwether Lewis to look for Megalonyx on his journey to the Oregon coast.
Wisconsin
Calymene celebra (Cali-men-A see-Lee-bra) was a relatively small species of trilobite that lived during the Silurian period, 444-416 million years ago.
Wyoming
Knightia (night-tea-a) is the most commonly excavated fossil fish in the world.
Image Credits
All images have been cropped to fit the space required
All images are used under Fair Use laws
Image credits are listed from top to bottom and from left to right
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National Fossil Day Logo
Original image by: National Parks Service
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Basilosaurus
Original image by: The BBC
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Woolly Mammoth Model
Original picture by: Liekeze
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Petrified Wood
Original picture by: Jon Sullivan
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No Fossil Fuels Sticker
Original image by: Corbin Dunn
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Smilodon
Original picture by: Liekeze
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Stegosaurus Eating
Original screenshot by: Liekeze
Taken in game: The Isle
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Dinosaur State Park (Rocky Hill, CT) - close-up
Original picture by: Daderot
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Fossil Belemnoidea-complete
Original picture by: Ra'ike
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Fossil Agatized Coral Florida
Original picture by: Wilson44691
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Cretaceous Shark Teeth
Original picture by: Wilson44691
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Equus simplicidens
Original picture by: Daderot
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Tullimonstrum
Original image by: Nobu Tamura
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Tylosaururus Bruce Fotor Collage
Original image by: Bruce Fotor?
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Cincinnetina meeki
Original picture by: Wilson44691
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Palmoxylon sp. fossil - Botanischer Garten, Dresden, Germany
Original picture by: Daderot
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Pertica Quadrifaria
Original picture by: Maine Geological Survey
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Fossile Ecphora gardnerae
Original picture by: Daniel baise
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Mastodon
Original painting by: Charles R. Knight
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Zygorhiza kochii
Original picture by: Claire H.
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Agaricocrinus americanus Carboniferous Indiana
Original picture by: Vassil
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Maisaura
Original screenshot by: Liekeze
Taken in game: The Isle
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Columbian Mammoth
Original artwork by: Raul Martin
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Shonisaurus popularis
Original artwork by: Dmitry Bogdanov
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Hadro Bones
Original picture by: Smallbones
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Coelophysis
Original artwork by: Jeff Martz
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Eurypterus Paleoart
Original artwork by: Obsidian Soul and Dimitris Siskopoulos
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Megalodon Swimming
Original screenshot by: Liekeze
Taken in game: ARK: Survival Evolved
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Toredo Petrified Wood
Original picture by: North Dakota State Goverment
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Isotelus maximus
Original picture by: The American Museum of Natural History
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Saurophaganax Resting
Original screenshot by: Liekeze
Taken in game: The Isle
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Metasequoia branchlet
Original picture by: Kevmin
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Phacops rana
Original picture by: Didier Descouens
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Archie the Mammoth
Original picture by: James St. John
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Triceratops Full Frontal
Original screenshot by: Liekeze
Taken in game: The Isle
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Megatrigoniidae - Pterotrigonia caudata
Original picture by: Hectonichus
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Sauroposeidon proteles
Original artwork by: Levi bernardo
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Replica Allosaurus
Original picture by: Liekeze
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The Charlotte Whale Fossil
Original picture by: Jeff Howe
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Chesapecten jeffersonius Outside
Original picture by: Nonenmac
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Columbian Mammoth
Original picture by: WolfmanSF
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Megalonyx jeffersoni
Original picture by: Liekeze
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Calymene celebra
Original picture by: Ushakaron
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Knightia
Original picture by: Dsdugan