List of U.S. state fossils

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.

Four states (Indiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island) lack an explicit state fossil, though Indiana's Salem Limestone is a sedimentary rock that consists of dissolved calcium from both nonbiological and biological sources (such as the accumulation of corals and shells on the seafloor) and also often contains intact fossils.

Table of state fossils

State federal district or territory	Age	Common name	Binomial name	Image	Year adopted
Alabama	Eocene	Basilosaurus whale	Basilosaurus cetoides		1984^[1]
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		1996
District of Columbia	Cretaceous	"Capitalsaurus" (state dinosaur)	nomen nudum only		1998
Florida	Eocene	Agatized coral (state stone)	Cnidaria, Anthozoa		1979
Georgia	Cretaceous– Miocene	Shark tooth	undetermined		1976^[2]
Idaho	Pliocene	Hagerman horse	Equus simplicidens
Illinois	Pennsylvanian	Tully monster	Tullimonstrum gregarium		1989^[3]
Indiana	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum		2022^[4]
Kansas	Cretaceous	Pteranodon (state flying fossil)^[5]	Pteranodon longiceps		2014^[6]
Kansas	Cretaceous	Tylosaurus (state marine fossil)^[7]	Tylosaurus kansasensis		2014^[8]
Kentucky	Ordovician– Pennsylvanian	Brachiopod	undetermined		1986^[9]
Louisiana	Oligocene	Petrified palmwood	Palmoxylon		1976^[10]
Maine	Devonian	Pertica plant	Pertica quadrifaria		1976
Maryland	Miocene	Ecphora gardnerae shell	Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae		1984 (name revised, 1994)^[11]
Massachusetts	Jurassic	Dinosaur tracks	Eubrontes giganteus
Michigan	Holocene	American mastodon	Mammut americanum		2002
Mississippi	Eocene	"Prehistoric whale"	Zygorhiza kochii		1981^[12]
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	Ichthyosaur^[13]^[14]	Shonisaurus popularis		1977 (designated) 1988 (amended)
New Mexico	Triassic	Coelophysis	Coelophysis bauri		1981
New York	Silurian	Sea scorpion	Eurypterus remipes		1984
North Carolina	Miocene- Pliocene	Shark tooth	Otodus megalodon	Otodus megalodon tooth	2013^[15]
North Dakota	Paleocene	Shipworm-bored petrified wood	Teredo petrified wood
Ohio	Ordovician	Trilobite	Isotelus maximus (Fossil invertebrate)		1985^[16]
Ohio	Devonian	Dunkleosteus	Dunkleosteus terrelli (Fossil Fish)		2021^[17]
Oklahoma	Jurassic	Saurophaganax	Saurophaganax maximus		2000^[18]
Oregon	Eocene	Dawn redwood	Metasequoia		2005
Pennsylvania	Devonian	Trilobite	Phacops rana		1988^[19]
South Carolina	Pleistocene	Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi		2014^[20]
South Dakota	Cretaceous	Triceratops	Triceratops horridus
Tennessee	Cretaceous	Bivalve	Pterotrigonia thoracica
Utah	Jurassic	Allosaurus	Allosaurus fragilis		1988^[21]
Vermont	Pleistocene	Beluga whale (redesignated as state marine fossil in 2014)	Delphinapterus leucas		1993^[22]^[23]
Vermont	Pleistocene	Woolly mammoth tooth and tusk (state terrestrial fossil)	Mammuthus primigenius		2014^[23]^[24]
Virginia	Cenozoic	scallop	Chesapecten jeffersonius		1993
Washington	Pleistocene	Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi		1998^[25]
West Virginia	Late Pleistocene	Jefferson's ground sloth	Megalonyx jeffersonii		2008^[26]
Wisconsin	Silurian	Trilobite	Calymene celebra		1985^[27]
Wyoming	Eocene	Knightia	Knightia spp.		1987