MA State Dinosaur? Framingham Lawmaker Seeks Designation

FRAMINGHAM, MA — For the new year, one local lawmaker wants to take Massachusetts back to the Jurassic period.

State Rep. Jack Lewis (D-Framingham) is planning to file legislation in January to designate a Massachusetts state dinosaur. With help from local paleontologists and dinosaur enthusiasts, Lewis has picked two possible dinosaur types, which both once roamed the prehistoric New England landscape.

The two species are the Podokesaurus holyokensis and the Anchisaurus polyzelus. Lewis is asking for local students to help him pick which one to nominate via an online survey.

Both the Podokesaurus and the Anchisaurus were small dinosaurs whose fossils have been found in the Connecticut River valley — the "holyokensis" in Podokesaurus' name refers to Mount Holyoke, which is near where the reptile's fossils were first discovered in 1911 by geologist Mignon Talbot.

"While they aren't the largest dinosaurs to roam the planet, they begin to tell the story of how dinosaurs came to rule the Earth," Lewis said in a social media post.

The Anchisaurus fossils are on display at the Amherst College natural history museum. The fossils were discovered in the mid-19th Century during the construction of an armory in Springfield. The Podokesaurus' fossils were destroyed in a 1917 fire at Mount Holyoke College, although casts of the remains have survived.

You can help pick the Massachusetts state dinosaur by filling out Lewis' survey. He plans to file the legislation on Jan. 15.