<!--right|thumb|300px|Map showing which states have state fossils (in blue; states without fossils are gray.)-->

Most states in the US have designated a state fossil, many during the 1980s. It is common to designate a fossilized species, rather than a single specimen or a category of fossils. State fossils are distinct from other state emblems like state dinosaurs, state stones, state minerals, state gemstones or state rocks and a state may designate one, a few, or all of those. For example, in Arizona, the state stone is turquoise and the state dinosaur is Sonorasaurus thompsoni yet the state fossil is petrified wood.

The two first states to designate a state fossil were Nebraska and North Dakota, both in 1967.

Six states and the District of Columbia as of March 10th, 2026 still lack an explicit state fossil:

  • Arkansas: There is no state fossil in Arkansas, though the state designated Arkansaurus as its state dinosaur.
  • District of Columbia: Capitalsaurus is the state dinosaur of Washington D.C., but the District has not chosen a state fossil.
  • Florida: There is no state fossil in Florida, though agatised coral, which is a fossil, is the state stone.
  • Hawaii: In history, Hawaii is too young to have many fossils, and its igneous composition makes fossils harder to find. The government has not officially declared any of its existing fossils a state fossil.
  • Iowa: The crinoid was proposed in 2018, though it was not officially accepted.
  • New Hampshire: The American mastodon (Mammut americanum) was considered in 2015.
  • Texas: There is no state fossil, though the state dinosaur is Sauroposeidon proteles.

__TOC__

Table of state fossils

{| class="wikitable sortable" align="center" width="100%"

|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"

! State<br/>federal district<br/>or territory

! Age

! Common name

! Binomial<br/>name

! Image

! Year adopted

|-

| Alabama

|| Eocene

|| Basilosaurus whale

|| Basilosaurus cetoides

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1984

|-

| Alaska

|| Pleistocene

|| Woolly mammoth

|| Mammuthus primigenius

|| center|100x100px

||1986

|-

| Arizona

|| Triassic

|| Petrified wood

|| Araucarioxylon arizonicum

|| upright|center|100px

||1988

|-

| California

|| Pleistocene

|| Saber-toothed cat

|| Smilodon fatalis

|| upright|center|100px

||1974

|-

| Colorado

|| Jurassic

|| Stegosaurus

|| Stegosaurus armatus

|| center|100x100px

|| 1982

|-

| Connecticut

|| Jurassic

|| Dinosaur tracks

|| Eubrontes giganteus

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1991

|-

| Delaware

|| Cretaceous

|| Belemnite

|| Belemnitella americana

|| center|100x100px

||

|-

| Georgia

|| Cretaceous&ndash;<br/>Miocene

|| Shark tooth

|| Carcharocles megalodon

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1976

<!-- |-

| Hawaii || || || || || -->

|-

| Idaho

|| Pliocene

|| Hagerman horse

|| Equus simplicidens

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1988

|-

| Illinois

|| Pennsylvanian

|| Tully monster

|| Tullimonstrum gregarium

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1989

<!-- |-

| Iowa || || || || || -->

|-

| Indiana

|| Holocene

|| American mastodon

|| Mammut americanum

|| center|100x100px

|| 2022

|-

| rowspan="2" | Kansas

|| Cretaceous

|| Pteranodon<br/>(state flying fossil)

|| Pteranodon longiceps

|| upright|center|100px

|| 2014

|-

|| Cretaceous

|| Tylosaurus<br/>(state marine fossil)

|-

| Louisiana

|| Oligocene

|| Petrified palmwood

||Palmoxylon

|| upright|center|100px

||1976

|-

| Maine

|| Devonian

|| Pertica plant

|| Pertica quadrifaria

||upright|center|100px

||1976

|-

| Maryland

|| Miocene

|| Ecphora gardnerae<br/>shell

|| Ecphora gardnerae<br/>gardnerae

||upright|center|100px

|| 1984 (name revised, 1994)

|-

| Massachusetts

|| Jurassic

|| Dinosaur tracks

|| Eubrontes giganteus

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1980

|-

| Michigan

|| Holocene

|| American mastodon

|| Mammut americanum

|| center|100x100px

|| 2002

|-

| Minnesota

|| Pleistocene

|| Giant beaver

|| Castoroides ohioensis

||center|150x150px

|| 2025

|-

| Mississippi

|| Eocene

|| "Prehistoric whale"

|| Zygorhiza kochii

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1981

|-

| Missouri

|| Pennsylvanian

|| Sea lily

||Delocrinus missouriensis

||

|| 1989

|-

| Montana

|| Cretaceous

|| Hadrosaur

|| Maiasaura peeblesorum

|| 100px|center|upright

|| 1985

|-

| Nebraska

|| Pleistocene

|| Woolly mammoth<br/>Columbian mammoth<br/>Imperial mammoth

|| Mammuthus primigenius<br/>Mammuthus columbi<br/>Mammuthus imperator

|| center|100x100px

|| 1967

|-

| New Jersey

|| Cretaceous

|| Hadrosaur

|| Hadrosaurus foulkii

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1991

|-

| Nevada

|| Triassic

|| Ichthyosaur

|| Shonisaurus popularis

|| center|100x100px

||1977 (designated) 1988 (amended)

<!-- |-

| New Hampshire || || || || || -->

|-

| New Mexico

|| Triassic

|| Coelophysis

|| Coelophysis bauri

|| upright|center|100px

||1981

|-

| New York

|| Silurian

|| Sea scorpion

|| Eurypterus remipes

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1984

|-

|North Carolina

|Miocene- Pliocene

|Shark tooth

|Otodus megalodon

|upright|center|100px

|2013

|-

| North Dakota

|| Paleocene

|| Shipworm-bored<br/>petrified wood

|| Teredo petrified wood

|upright|center|100px

||1967

|-

| rowspan="2" | Ohio

|| Ordovician

|| Trilobite

|| Isotelus maximus (Fossil invertebrate)

||upright|center|100px

|| 1985

|-

|Devonian

|Dunkleosteus

|Dunkleosteus terrelli (Fossil Fish)

|center|100x100px

|2021

|-

| Oklahoma

|| Jurassic

|| Saurophaganax

|| Saurophaganax maximus

|| upright|center|100px

||2000

|-

| Oregon

|| Eocene

|| Dawn redwood

|| Metasequoia

|| upright|center|100px

|| 2005

|-

| Pennsylvania

|| Devonian

|| Trilobite

|| Phacops rana

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1988

|-

| Rhode Island

|| Paleozoic

|| Trilobite

|| Genus and species not stated

|| upright|center|100px

|| 2023

|-

| South Carolina

|| Pleistocene

|| Columbian mammoth

|| Mammuthus columbi

|| center|100x100px

|| 2014

|-

| South Dakota

|| Cretaceous

|| Triceratops

|| Triceratops horridus

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1988

|-

| Tennessee

|| Cretaceous

|| Bivalve

|| Pterotrigonia thoracica

|| 100px|center|upright

|| 1998

|-

| Utah

|| Jurassic

|| Allosaurus

|| Allosaurus fragilis

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1988

|-

| rowspan="2" | Vermont

|| Pleistocene

|| Beluga whale (redesignated as state marine fossil in 2014)

|| Delphinapterus leucas

|| center|100x100px

|| 1993

|-

|| Pleistocene

|| Woolly mammoth<br/>tooth and tusk<br/>(state terrestrial fossil)

|| Mammuthus primigenius

|| center|100x100pxcenter|100x100px

|| 2014

|-

| Virginia

|| Cenozoic

|| scallop

|| Chesapecten jeffersonius

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1993

|-

| Washington

|| Pleistocene

|| Columbian mammoth

|| Mammuthus columbi

|| center|100x100px

|| 1998

|-

| West Virginia

|| Late Pleistocene

|| Jefferson's ground sloth

|| Megalonyx jeffersonii

|| center|133x133px

|| 2008

|-

| Wisconsin

|| Silurian

|| Trilobite

|| Calymene celebra

|| upright|center|100px

|| 1985

|-

| Wyoming

|| Eocene

|| Knightia

|| Knightia spp.

|| upright|center|100px

|| 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

  • List of U.S. state fossils, from National Park Service