Every state has a state flower. For example, the Massachusetts flower is the mayflower. Well, a few states also have a state dinosaur! Massachusetts recently added its state dino. Move over, mayflowers. Meet the Podokesaurus holyokensis! (That’s POH-doh-kuh-SAWR-us HOL-ee-o-KEN-sis.)
Jack Lewis came up with the idea for a state dinosaur. He works in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Which dinosaur did he choose to represent his state? To answer that, Lewis first had to figure out which dinos were discovered in Massachusetts. He learned that there were two. So, he asked people across the Bay State to choose their favorite!
Lewis expected a few hundred votes. But people were excited about the online poll. More than 35,000 people voted! “I will never again doubt the power of dinosaurs to inspire, connect, and educate,” Lewis told News-O-Matic.
The Podokesaurus holyokensis won the vote. The dino was related to the Tyrannosaurus rex. But unlike the mighty T. rex, the Podokesaurus was tiny. It stood only about 1 foot (30 cm) tall. That’s barely as big as a chicken! With its tail, the dino may have been 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 m) long. It had sharp teeth to eat meat. The dino lived about 180–195 million years ago.
Before a state can get an official dinosaur, lawmakers must agree. Lewis worked with fellow Representative Mindy Domb to create a bill for the Podokesaurus. Then they needed support from other Massachusetts lawmakers. “We worked with families and classrooms to send letters to their state representatives and senators,” said Lewis. “Those letters often included artwork of the small dinosaur.”
The person who found the Podokesaurus is an important part of its story. Mignon Talbot discovered the dinosaur in 1910 by Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. While working as a professor there, she found a skeleton in a nearby sandstone boulder. Talbot said at the time: “I’ve found a real live !”
Talbot was one of the first female on Earth. And she was the first woman to discover a non-bird dinosaur. Talbot named the Podokesaurus holyokensis. The name she chose for the means “swift-footed lizard of Holyoke.”
Mindy Domb said it’s important to recognize female scientists like Talbot. “Their leadership and contributions have been invisible for too long,” she told News-O-Matic.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed the state dinosaur bill into law in April 2022. And on October 19, the Museum of Science hosted a signing ceremony in Boston. Lewis spoke about Mignon Talbot at the event. He hoped it would help young women make their own discoveries.
Added Lewis:
“If this project inspires just a couple girls to explore , it would have been all worth it.”
Updated November 2, 2022, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Lucy Albright
