This Diminutive Creature Was Recently Honored by Massachusetts!

Did you know Massachusetts has a new official state dinosaur?  Governor Baker made it official earlier this month!

This dinosaur likely roamed the areas from Pittsfield, to North Adams, to Springfield, to Holyoke, where its fossil was first discovered!

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This dinosaur roamed the Earth during the Jurassic period, which puts him in the same era as famous dinosaurs such as the diplodocus, stegosaurus (the type in front of the Berkshire Museum), and the famous T. Rex!  This little guy was a carnivore, but would have been absolutely squished by any of those larger dinosaurs…he was only about 1 foot tall and 3 feet long!

But, he's all ours, and our new, official state dinosaur is…the Podokesaurus Holyokensis!

The what, you ask?

Well, this guy has roots right here in Massachusetts, as he was first discovered by Professor Mignon Talbot.  She’s a big deal in the Paleontological world, being the first woman to become a member of the Paleontological Society and also earning a Ph.D from Yale.  She was walking with her sister near Mt. Holyoke, and found a dinosaur skeleton!  That skeleton, of course…was the Podokesaurus Holyokensis!  It makes me wonder how many interesting finds I've missed while out hiking or exploring...

For the record, Podokesaurus Holyokensis means:  swift-footed lizard of Holyoke

Dinosaurs have always been fascinating to me, and now my son also.  Dinosaurs roamed the Earth for about 165 million total years…while us meager humans (the “modern” version of us) have done so for only about 200,000 total years.

The Podokesaurs Holyokensis joins the Wild Turkey as the official MA State Game Bird, The Blue Hills of Massachusetts as the official state poem, and the Boston Terrier as the official state dog, among many others.