No. 5 - - Pleurocoelus of Texas ... or is it Paluxysaurus?

[5]Pleurocoelus – Texas (1997)/maybe Paluxysaurus?

So … this is an awkward situation. It sounds like Texas adopted the Pleurocoelus (a brachiosaurid) back in ’97, but paleontologists “screwed up Texas’s plans” by suggesting that Pleurocoelus is actually an already identified species called Astrodon, which Maryland adopted as their own state fossil in ’98.

This means, for a few years, Texans were happy to have the 15-ton obscurity representing their state, until they learned that they’d adopted a species that might actually be a different species that someone else had already staked a claim to.

“Well, shit,” thought Texas. *
 
 *I’m speculating and paraphrasing

So since 2009 Texas has been mulling over the idea of replacing Pleurocoelus/Astrodon with Paluxysaurus, which is kind of neat, in terms of its placement in sauropod evolution (if Texans believe in that sort of thing).

Paluxysaurus is believed to represent the evolutionary turning point between brachiosaurids and titanosaurs, which were the lineage of sauropods that would survive until the extinction event that ceased the existence of all dinosaurs shortly thereafter.


References:
http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/herbivorousdinosaurs/p/Paluxysaurus.htm 

http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/herbivorousdinosaurs/p/pleurocoelus.htm

No. 6 - - Hylonomus of Nova Scotia

[6] Hylonomus – Nova Scotia (2002)

This isn’t a dinosaur, in fact it’s a small reptile from the Precambrian era, 312 million years ago, ages before the dinosaurs evolved. This could, in a very liberal sense of the word, make Hylonomus the great grand father of dinosaurs, though probably not in any literal or figurative way.

Only 20 centimetres long and not even a dinosaur, this is still Canada’s greatest “state” fossil because it is Canada’s only state fossil, located in the fossilized, club-moss stumps of Joggins, Nova Scotia.

Now, let’s be clear, Canada finds ways to honour its dinosaurs in more scientific ways. Rather than adopting a cool fossil as its official provincial fossil, they instead name the cool fossils after the province (or a big city in the province) which is why we have the wicked-cool Albertasaurus, Edmontonia, Albertaceratops and Edmontosaurus.

British Columbia had a competition back in 2010 to vote for a fossil to be recognized as one of the province’s official symbols, and there was a strong “elasmosaurus lobby” to honour the serpentine aquatic reptile.

I can’t find a single result to come from this competition, but the list of nominees for the competition can be found here.

In any case, none of these nominees are dinosaurs, just as hylonomus isn't, too.


The countdown will resume next Wednesday - tune in then!

References:
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/land_tenures/fossil_management/designating_a_provincial_fossil/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylonomus

No. 7 - - Hypsibema of Missouri

[7] Hypsibema – Missouri (2004)
 
If you’re going to have your state officially identify with a fossil of some sort, you’d think you’d go with something you feel represents your state in some way. Well, Missouri hasn’t let that get in the way of naming their state fossil in Hypsibema.

Is it a big hadrosaur? Is it a sauropod? Paleontologists just aren’t entirely sure, as the fragmented material that makes up the holotype for Hypsibema is still classified as “dubious.” However, the fossils are most currently considered to be those of a hadrosaur, thanks to some of Jack Horner’s work.

Though it was primarily identified by its teeth, the name suggests that it walked “high” on its “toes,” which in Greek is “hypsibema” which frankly, they probably didn’t do either.

Makes you wonder what they were thinking - - was North Carolina about to name it their own state fossil, so Missouri swooped in and nnnyoinked it away from them? Nya nya na nyaaa nya?

Weird.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypsibema