ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Tyrannosaurus rex seemingly came out of nowhere tens of millions of years ago, with its monstrous teeth and powerful jaws dominating the end of the age of the dinosaurs.
How it came to be is among the many mysteries that paleontologists have long tried to solve. Researchers from several universities and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science say they now have one more piece of the puzzle.
A rendering shows Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis, a newly discovered relative of Tyrannosaurus rex. The creature likely roamed Earth up to 7 million years before T. rex.
Sergey Krasovkiy, New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science
On Thursday, they unveiled fossil evidence and published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports. Their study identifies a new subspecies of tyrannosaur thought to be an older and more primitive relative of the well-known T. rex .
There were ohs and ahs as the massive jaw bone and pointy teeth were revealed to a group of schoolchildren. Pieces of the fragile specimen were first found in the 1980s by boaters on the shore of New Mexico's largest reservoir.
The identification of the new subspecies came through a meticulous reexamination of the jaw and other pieces of the skull that were collected over years at the site. The team analyzed the specimen bone by bone, noting differences in numerous features compared with those synonymous with T. rex.
Anthony Fiorillo, center, executive director of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, asks a group of students a question Thursday during a news conference at the museum in Albuquerque, N.M. Fiorillo is among the authors of a study that details the discovery of a new subspecies of tyrannosaur that is thought to be an older, more primitive relative of the famous T. rex.
Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
“Science is a process. With each new discovery, it forces us to go back and test and challenge what we thought we knew, and that's the core story of this project," said Anthony Fiorillo, a co-author of the study and the executive director of the museum.
An elementary school student holds a collector card showing a new subspecies of tyrannosaur during a visit Thursday to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque, N.M.
Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
The differences between T. rex and Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis are subtle. But that’s typically the case in closely related species, said Nick Longrich, a co-author from the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom.
"Evolution slowly causes mutations to build up over millions of years, causing species to look subtly different over time,” he said.
The analysis — outlined Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports — suggests the new subspecies Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis was a side-branch in the species's evolution, rather than a direct ancestor of T. rex.
The researchers determined it predated T. rex by up to 7 million years, showing that tyrannosaurs were in North America long before paleontologists previously thought.
With no close relatives in North America, co-author Sebastian Dalman wanted to reexamine specimens collected from southern New Mexico. That work started in 2013 when he was a student.
"Soon we started to suspect we were onto something new,” Dalman said.
Researchers and students get a closer look Thursday at the jaw bone of a new subspecies of tyrannosaur unveiled at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque, N.M.
Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
T. rex has a reputation as a fierce predator. It measured up to 40 feet long and 12 feet high. Dalman and the other researchers say T. mcraeensis was roughly the same size and also ate meat.
Thomas Richard Holtz, a paleontologist at the University of Maryland who was not involved in the study, said the tyrannosaur fossil from New Mexico has been known for a while but its significance was not clear.
One interesting aspect of the research is that it appears T. rex’s closest relatives were from southern North America, with the exception of Mongolian Tarbosaurus and Chinese Zhuchengtyrannus, Holtz said. That leaves the question of whether these Asian dinosaurs were immigrants from North America or if the new subspecies and other large tyrannosaurs were immigrants from Asia.
“One great hindrance to solving this question is that we don’t have good fossil sites of the right environments in Asia older than Tarbosaurus and Zhuchengtyrannus, so we can’t see if their ancestors were present there or not,” Holtz said.
He and the researchers who analyzed the specimen agree that more fossils from the Hall Lake Formation in southern New Mexico could help answer further questions.
States with the most dinosaur fossils
States with the most dinosaur fossils
Humans' fascination with dinosaurs goes back at least 2,000 years to Chinese writings describing what were thought to be massive dragon bones . In the 17th century, an English museum curator discovered a large thigh bone he posited was from a human giant. The first scientific designation of a group of animals called dinosaurs came about in the 1840s. 1993's blockbuster “Jurassic Park” drove our 20th-century obsession with dinosaurs into overdrive. And with each new fossil discovery and dinosaur movie release, our intrigue with these prehistoric predators only grows.
Every American state has searched its soil for dinosaur fossils, but some states have more old dinosaur bones than others. Anyone lucky enough to stumble on some is likely to strike pay dirt: The world's most complete T. rex skeleton fetched a record-setting $31.8 million in a 2020 auction.
To determine which states have the most dinosaur fossils, Stacker consulted the Paleobiology Database , a non-profit public resource that brings together fossil records from research institutions around the world. Data is current as of May 2022. We pulled all records labeled "Dinosauria" (the dinosaur clade) and sorted them by state. It is important to note that these records do not comprehensively reflect all dinosaur fossil records in the U.S., but rather represent a sample via the fossils available in public collections.
Five states—Kentucky, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin—have no dinosaur fossils recorded by the PBDB. These states were mostly below sea level during the time dinosaurs roamed the Earth, leaving little sediment to preserve fossils. Glacial erosion also contributed to the lack of bones.
Along with the most prominent time period, the genus with the most fossils is provided for each slide. A dinosaur’s genus encompasses multiple species with similar characteristics. Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Diplodocus are three of the nearly 300 valid dinosaur genera.
Continue reading to discover which states have the most dinosaur fossils.
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Zack Frank // Shutterstock
#46. Kentucky (tie)
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 0
The University of Kentucky reports that while the state has no dinosaur fossils, it has other fossils from as far back as 505 million years ago. Discoveries are happening in real time, too: A 330-million-year-old shark head fossil was discovered in January 2020 inside a Kentucky cave. For what it lacks in actual fossils, the Bluegrass State makes up for with Dinosaur World .
Zack Frank // Shutterstock
#46. New Hampshire (tie)
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 0
The Granite State’s title alone explains why fossils are few and far between: Granite is an igneous rock formed by cooling lava, which cannot sustain fossils. That’s why out west, where there is a lot of sedimentary rock, fossils are much more prevalent. Additionally, acidic soil (like that in much of New Hampshire) does not keep bones well.
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James St. John // Flickr
#46. Wisconsin (tie)
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 0
Where there is no rock, there are no dinosaur bones , which is the case in Wisconsin. Though containing no stone from the Permian period to the Neogene age (either due to erosion or having never been there), the state is known for its small marine vertebrates proving water life from more than 500 million years ago.
Wisconsin was covered with shallow seas in the early Paleozoic period , leaving behind thousands of samplings including the state fossil Calymene, first collected in the 1830s.
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Dwergenpaartje // Wikimedia Commons
#45. West Virginia
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 1
- Genus with the most fossils: Ectopistes (1 fossil)
- Time period with the most fossils: unknown (1 fossil)
Known for its “bottom-heavy” geologic record that dates back as far as 400 million years ago, West Virginia has significant amphibian and tetrapod fossils. The state also has a Megalonyx, the fossil recorded in PBDB, which was described by President Thomas Jefferson as the Giant Ground Sloth and today serves as the state fossil.
West Virginia is home to the Geological and Economic Survey Museum , where visitors can learn about why there are so few dinosaur fossils: The state's sedimentary rocks predate dinosaurs, while the state’s Mesozoic rocks have long since eroded along with any fossilized evidence.
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U.S. Geological Survey // Flickr
#44. Minnesota
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 1
- Genus with the most fossils: Dromaeosauridae (1 fossil)
- Time period with the most fossils: Cenomanian (1 fossil)
A fossilized dino claw with a tooth and vertebrae was discovered in 2015 in Minnesota , but the jury is still out on whether the artifact hitched a ride on a glacier or called the North Star State home. There’s no other evidence of dinosaurs but woolly mammoth and old bison fossils have been found in Minnesota, as well as others that date back as far as 540 million years ago.
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#42. New York
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 2
- Genus with the most fossils: Atreipus and Grallator (1 fossil each)
- Time period with the most fossils: Norian (2 fossils)
The Grallator left 200-million-old Triassic tracks in Rockland County, proving its prehistoric presence. The New York dino is so famous that even Kylie Jenner grabbed a selfie with the renowned carnivore double.
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#38. Michigan
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 7
- Genus with the most fossils: Meleagris (2 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Late Pleistocene (6 fossils)
Eroding sediment kept dinosaur bones from fossilizing however, there are some that have been discovered in the area. The University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology has several displays of local fossils for students to study, including Paleozoic and Mesozoic reptile relics.
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#36. Arkansas
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 12
- Genus with the most fossils: Hesperornis (2 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Albian (9 fossils)
Foot bones of a bipedal dinosaur were discovered in 1972 in Sevier County , proving prehistoric life wandered the southern state. By 2017, the Arkansaurus fridayi became the official state dinosaur. Dinosaur tracks were additionally discovered in the early ‘80s at the Briar Site , a gypsum quarry in southwestern Arkansas.
Another gypsum quarry near Nashville, Arkansas, yields thousands of huge dinosaur tracks—most likely from a plant-eater roaming in the Jurassic period.
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#35. Mississippi
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 13
- Genus with the most fossils: Hadrosauridae (4 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Campanian (6 fossils)
New Albany, Mississippi, was home to a 2016 discovery of a 67-million-year-old horned dinosaur tooth . The Ceratopsian dinosaur tooth is only one of three of those style fossils ever discovered in the Eastern U.S., according to the curator and paleontologist George Phillips with the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. Phillips also confirmed that a 50-pound Mastodon fossil found in 2018 was likely from the Ice Age.
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#32. Washington
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 28
- Genus with the most fossils: Tonsala (7 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Rupelian (9 fossils)
The first documented dinosaur fossil was unearthed in 2015 in Washington State. That artifact was a thigh bone of a theropod , a dinosaur clade that includes the raptor and T. rex. The species, thought to have migrated from Mexico between 80 and 50 million years ago, died in the region that is most popular for giant sloths, mastodons, and mammoths.
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#31. Illinois
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 31
- Genus with the most fossils: Ectopistes (8 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Holocene (31 fossils)
The Mesozoic period, which is notorious for eroding fossils rather than actively depositing them, was not kind to Illinois despite the area being suitable for dinosaur life. The Midwest state was a warm, swampy forest at the end of the dinosaur era. Evidence of prehistoric dinosaurs roaming the Prairie State includes “Tully Monster” fossils, Indiana’s official fossil dating back 300 million years. The Paleontology Portal reports a prosperous record of Quaternary fossils found from giant animals including stag moose and beaver.
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James St. John // Flickr
#30. South Carolina
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 32
- Genus with the most fossils: Pelagornis (5 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Campanian (12 fossils)
Two hadrosaur teeth discovered in 1986 were just the beginning of several dinosaur fossil finds in the early and mid-’90s. Specific Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic rocks were unearthed in a Batesburg outcrop on the southwestern side of the Palmetto State, allowing for the potential of more fossils. Whale and large crocodile fossils have also been found in the southeastern part of the state.
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2020 Photography // Shutterstock
#29. Tennessee
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 34
- Genus with the most fossils: Aves (3 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Late Pleistocene (28 fossils)
Tennessee’s state museum is home to a lot of dinosaur bones, but the relics are not all necessarily from the region. Retired biologist Jim Kelsey and other volunteers at Earth Experience bring in and mold dinosaur bones and relics from Montana and other areas. During the Mesozoic era , marine-conditions kept the dinosaurs, who roamed further east, away.
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#28. Pennsylvania
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 40
- Genus with the most fossils: Grallator (23 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Norian (32 fossils)
Distributed dinosaur tracks from the Mesozoic era confirm tyrannosaurs, raptors, and ceratopsians roamed the Quaker State . Pennsylvania State Museum curator and paleontologist Steven Jasinski said the fossilized dinosaur prints, specifically in southeastern sections of the state, are from the Triassic Period and are likely from grallators and atropos. A volunteer at Valley Forge Historical Park discovered fossilized tracks on 210 million-year-old rock slabs within the forest in 2017.
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kamnuan // Shutterstock
#27. Ohio
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 41
- Genus with the most fossils: Meleagris (5 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Holocene (41 fossils)
The Ohio Geological Survey reports several fossil-rich sites throughout a few official Buckeye State museums, including Caesar Creek, Crown Lake, Stonelick, and Trammel Fossil. Some fossils, which date back 500 million years , may not be exact dinosaur relics due to sea level erosion—but that doesn’t mean they’re not monstrous. Take, for example, the 20-foot, one-ton Dunkleosteus found near Cleveland, which is most definitely a dinosaur fish.
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James St. John // Flickr
#26. Georgia
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 55
- Genus with the most fossils: Anas (6 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Late Pleistocene (48 fossils)
The incomplete remains from a Deinosuchus (a prehistoric crocodile) were unearthed in Georgia, where duck-billed dinosaur relics are most prevalent. The Peach State is also home to a plethora of ancient whale and shark fossils, as well as the Megalonyx, a massive ground sloth. Then there are the large (30% above average) chipmunk fossils, which prove the genus and species titled Tamias aristus was a Georgia local millions of years ago.
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#25. Kansas
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 57
- Genus with the most fossils: Hesperornis (4 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Coniacian (11 fossils)
Kansas rancher Warren Condray found fossils in 1955 that were eventually named the state dinosaur and named after him. Many parts of the prehistoric creature, Silvisaurus condrayi, were unearthed over time. To date, the skull, back, and tailbone, neck, jaw, teeth, and more, all under the authority of the Kansas University Biodiversity Institute Natural History Museum, have been unearthed. The state does not keep the collection on constant display.
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James St. John // Flickr
#24. Nebraska
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 58
- Genus with the most fossils: Pediohierax (4 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Langhian (16 fossils)
A 12-million-year-old volcano ash cloud killed prehistoric creatures , but it also protected their parts for paleontologists to study later. Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park is where said paleontologists gather annually in the summer to discover more relics from the period. At the same time, Fort Robinson State Park’s Trailside Museum houses two massive mammoth fossils. The animal fossils, unearthed in 1962, are locked together by their horns, meaning they were killed while face to face.
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Ammodramus // Wikimedia Commons
#23. Oklahoma
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 59
- Genus with the most fossils: Tenontosaurus (6 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Tithonian (29 fossils)
Oklahoma’s state fossil—a Saurophaganax Maximus skull —was discovered in the 1930s in Cimarron County. The fossil comes from a 40-foot long, carnivorous dinosaur from the Jurassic Period. Oklahoma is home to other fossils too, including 10,000-year-old mammoth relics of tusk and teeth found at Quartz Mountain State Park. The Sam Noble Museum of Oklahoma History in Norman , which has the most massive collection of dinosaur artifacts outside the Smithsonian, offers digging expeditions for locals and tourists.
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Chris Dodds // Wikimedia Commons
#22. Alabama
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 59
- Genus with the most fossils: Nodosauridae (3 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Late Pleistocene (37 fossils)
McWane Science Center proudly displays prehistoric dinosaur bones, including the 22-foot Alabama Tyrannosaur and 13-foot armored dinosaur Nodosaur, both from the Late Cretaceous Period. During the 1940s, remnants of a Lophorhothon , classified as a duck-billed dinosaur or hadrosaur, were discovered in Selma. During the same decade, evidence of Squalicorax, a fierce Cretaceous period shark, was found, particularly from teeth marks infixed in prehistoric reptiles, including dinosaurs.
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Ralph Daily // Flickr
#20. Maryland
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 73
- Genus with the most fossils: Ornithomimosauria (6 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Aptian (35 fossils)
Prince George County Dinosaur Park is the best place to find unearthed fossils, since it is precisely where the massive creatures spent their time. The park is not the only section of the state where fossils are found: Prehistoric shark teeth and shells have been unearthed at Calvert Cliffs. Drenched by the Atlantic in the Miocene era, Maryland has mostly turned up whale, sea cow, and shark relics from its regions.
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Foursqaure
#18. Connecticut
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 109
- Genus with the most fossils: Eubrontes (32 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Sinemurian (78 fossils)
Dinosaur State Park Arboretum boasts one of the largest dinosaur track sites in North America, featuring footprints from Dilophosoraous. Up to 2,000 footprints were found during a state building excavation, with 500 of the original tracks enclosed in the geodesic dome. The remaining tracks were buried for conservation. The fossilized dinosaur tracks assume the animal was at least 18-feet long. Other Connecticut fossils can be seen at the Yale Peabody Museum and Connecticut Science Center.
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James St. John // Flickr
#16. New Jersey
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 140
- Genus with the most fossils: Hadrosauridae (26 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Maastrichtian (42 fossils)
New Jersey’s state fossil is from a duck-billed Hadrosaurus named foulkii in 1991. Hadrosaurus fossils were found as early as 1838, with Dryptosaurus fossils first discovered in the Garden State in 1866. However, like many seashores, New Jersey is renowned for more marine-like monsters, including the Icarosaurus, a lizard with leathery wings that likely lived during the Triassic Period. New Jersey is also famous for marine relics of 30-million-year-old crocodiles, sharks, and Mosasaurs as well as prehistoric land animals, including the massive mammoths and mastodons.
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Jim, the Photographer // Flickr
#14. Oregon
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 154
- Genus with the most fossils: Larus (8 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Late Pleistocene (120 fossils)
A rare, land-dwelling dinosaur relic unearthed in Eastern Oregon in 2015—an ornithopod toe —proves prehistoric creatures roamed the state and represents Oregon’s most significant ancient find. Prominent fossil sites in the state include John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and Paisley Caves, as well as the Pittsburgh Bluff formation, Fossil Lake, and the Blue Mountains.
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#13. South Dakota
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 198
- Genus with the most fossils: Triceratops (18 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Maastrichtian (133 fossils)
South Dakota’s Black Hills are home to the most dinosaur fossils in the state. A handful of other spots—including the Journey Museum and Mammoth Site , not to mention The Badlands—also house prehistoric relics.
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USDAgov // Wikimedia Commons
#10. Virginia
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 280
- Genus with the most fossils: Aves (15 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Late Pleistocene (177 fossils)
Virginia is rich in fossils, but can only claim the remnants of one dinosaur so far: the Tanytrachelos, a small insect-eater which dates back 225 million years. Prehistoric fossils from insects and whales, along with ancient mammoths and mastodons, also come from the region.
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Ryan Somma // Flickr
#9. Massachusetts
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 319
- Genus with the most fossils: Grallator (80 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Sinemurian (228 fossils)
Massachusett's official state fossil is a set of dinosaur tracks from a 50-foot long theropod discovered in Granby. Remains of an Anchisarus, a plant-eating dinosaur from the Mesozoic Era, prove the prehistoric animals roamed the Bay State. Natural history museums throughout the state, including Berkshire Museum, house the hundreds of state fossils. Unfortunately, fossils from a two-legged therapod Podokesaurus discovered in 1910 got destroyed in a museum fire.
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L.A. Nature Graphics // Shutterstock
#8. Texas
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 497
- Genus with the most fossils: Theropoda (77 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Campanian (213 fossils)
Paluxy River reveals the tracks of prehistoric creatures within Dinosaur Valley State Park . In 2019, the Lone Star state’s most extensive collection of ancient creature fossils got named Convolosaurus marri , which means flocking lizard. Post Oak Creek, Lake Whitney, and Mineral Wells Fossil Park house dozens of the state's fossils, while the less formal Dinosaur World has up to 100 life-size dinosaurs on a 20-acre safari trail offering some prehistoric fun to locals and tourists alike.
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Diane Turner // Wikimedia Commons
#7. Colorado
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 580
- Genus with the most fossils: Camarasaurus (35 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Tithonian (249 fossils)
The world’s first Stegosaurus fossil was discovered in Colorado in 1877 at Dinosaur Ridge , which is also one of the world’s best spots for dinosaur footprints, with 300 tracks across a two-mile hike. The Carnegie Dinosaur Quarry in the northwest corner of the state has roughly 1,500 dinosaur bones that can be seen stuck in a cliff wall.
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Danielle Beder // Shutterstock
#5. Florida
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 895
- Genus with the most fossils: Anas (40 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Late Pleistocene (393 fossils)
The fossils of saber-tooth cats, giant woolly mammoths, and American mastodons make of much of Florida’s ancient animal collections . Prehistoric sharks and horses also lived in the Sunshine State based on relics found in the region. Plant City is home to Dinosaur World , which features hundreds of life-sized dinosaurs.
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Phil Lowe // Shutterstock
#4. New Mexico
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 935
- Genus with the most fossils: Hadrosauridae (197 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Campanian (569 fossils)
The San Juan Basin is one of the most well-preserved dinosaur fossil sites in the state, one of four featuring well-preserved Tyrannosaurus fossils. Ghost Ranch is home to Whittaker Quarry, which has many Coelophysis fossils, and Hayden Quarry, the site of the oldest North American dinosaur fossil.
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Jaroslav Moravcik // Shutterstock
#3. Montana
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 940
- Genus with the most fossils: Hadrosauridae (74 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Maastrichtian (432 fossils)
The first dinosaur bone discovered in North America was found in Montana in 1854 near Judith Landing. Paleontologist Barnum Brown uncovered the first T. rex bone in 1902 near Hell Creek, and Leonardo, a Brachylophosaurus found near Malta, is the world’s best-preserved dinosaur, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
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#1. California
- Total fossils recorded in PBDB: 1,988
- Genus with the most fossils: Phalacrocorax (89 fossils)
- Time period with the most fossils: Late Pleistocene (747 fossils)
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has a collection of more than 300 fossils and 20 fully reconstructed dinosaurs on display in the Jane G. Pisano Dinosaur Hall. The only two known fossils from Augustynolophus, a duck-billed plant-eater, were discovered near Fresno around 1940, becoming California’s state dinosaur in 2017. More than 100 digs have been performed in the La Brea Tar Pits, including one to install a parking garage in 2006 that uncovered a nearly full Columbian mammoth.
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