Meet the Official Candidate for the Massachusetts State Dinosaur
We already have an official state cookie with the classic chocolate chip and the official state bird with the chickadee. What we’re really missing is an official state dinosaur in Massachusetts. As of Thursday, February 4, we no longer have to worry about that void.
State Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis and the Museum of Science in Boston announced the new state dinosaur of Massachusetts in a live stream after an online poll received a total of 35,000 votes. The victor will be proposed in legislation calling for an official state dinosaur.
I did not know that this momentous occasion was taking place this afternoon, but I’m so glad I stumbled upon it on Facebook so I could watch the live stream at 4 pm. Who knew that debating the superiority of the Podokesaurus holyokensis and the Anchisaurus polyzelus could be so exhilarating? I was invested.
Both of these dinosaurs were discovered in Massachusetts. The Podokesaurus holyokensis means “swift-footed lizard of Holyoke,” named after the location of where the bones were discovered in 1910 according to Mark McMenamin, PhD, Professor of Geology at Mt. Holyoke College. The bones of the Anchisaurus polyzelus were first discovered in 1855 in Springfield, according to Alfred Venne of Amherst College's Beneski Museum.
With 60 percent of the votes cast in this poll, the Podokesaurus holyokensis has been named as the candidate for the Official State Dinosaur of Massachusetts. You can learn more about this creature at the Museum of Science's Dinosaur's Exhibit.