South Carolina state fossil

blacbird · Apr 11, 2014

In case you'd missed this: the state of South Carolina has a proposal on the books to officially recognize a "state fossil." Yes, I know about Strom Thurmond, but that's not it. And I know that there's a lot of cynicism about this kind of exercise in legislative trivia. But:

In this case, a very smart 8-year-old learned that it was in South Carolina, her state, that the first fossil woolly mammoth in North America was discovered. So she wrote a letter to legislators proposing that the pass legislation declaring the woolly mammoth to be the official state fossil.

The legislators she wrote to thought it was a cute idea, simple to pass, and good public relations. Until . . . they bumped up against a couple of creationists among their own midst, who insisted on inserting language specifying that the woolly mammoth "was created on the sixth day along with the other beasts of the field."

Just to make a point, I hereby link the Fox News story on this matter, but you'll have no trouble finding all manner of other sources for this story. And, oh yes, the two creationists were, indeed, Republicans.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/01/mammoth-bible-south-carolina-state-fossil/

caw

Plot Device · Apr 11, 2014

We of Massachusetts have an official State Cookie.

http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Massachusetts/cookie_choc_chip.html

So why not a State Fossil?

Brightdreamer · Apr 11, 2014

And this, I fear, is why America will never again be a world leader in science - we've become too afraid of offending the mental fossils to even acknowledge the real thing.

PD - Did Massachusetts specify on which day God baked the state cookie, or was it assumed He just bought a bag of Chips Ahoy at the heavenly grocery store?

Albedo · Apr 11, 2014

Plot Device said:
We of Massachusetts have an official State Cookie.

http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Massachusetts/cookie_choc_chip.html

So why not a State Fossil?

State fossil? I could get behind that.

Declare it with a disclaimer that you don't believe in palaeontology? Kind of defeats the purpose, IMO.

milkweed · Apr 11, 2014

State fossil??? Here in Iowa it's known as Govenor Branstad! :evil

Helix · Apr 11, 2014

I would have thought that a large, lumbering pachyderm driven extinct by climate change would have been a perfect symbol.

Roxxsmom · Apr 12, 2014

Nearly all US states have state fossils. The one from Colorado is Stegosaurus, which is famous for having a walnut-sized brain. This is still larger than the brain of SC state Sen. Kevin Bryant.

RichardGarfinkle · Apr 12, 2014

Meet the Tully Monster, Illinois' state fossil.

Alessandra Kelley · Apr 12, 2014

I confess, when I saw the thread title my instant thought was "Strom Thurmond?"

RichardGarfinkle said:
Meet the Tully Monster, Illinois' state fossil.

I think Illinois has the most :Wha:

state fossil. I love those things!

vsrenard · Apr 12, 2014

I want the stegosaur! Or Delaware's belemnite.

We have the sabre-toothed cat. Eh.

Snowstorm · Apr 12, 2014

I read this story a few days ago, and was disgusted. I commend this young lady for her simple suggestion, but these two creationists infuriate me. Why the hell does a state law have to have a "credit God" statement? Un-friggin'-believable.

kaitie · Apr 12, 2014

I think we should require all people running for office to pass a test showing a basic understanding of our legal system. Separation of church and state should be one of those. Requiring a state symbol to include a specific religious belief that applies to only a portion of society? Does not apply.

blacbird · Apr 12, 2014

milkweed said:
State fossil??? Here in Iowa it's known as Govenor Branstad!

In reading about the SC event, I came across a map showing the states which do have official state fossils. Mine, Alaska, also has the woolly mammoth as the sanctioned beast. Only a few states do not have an officially designated state fossil, and, amazingly, Iowa, the state in which I grew up and just about the most fossil-rich state in the nation, does not have an official fossil. Similarly, fossil-rich Kansas, also does not have one.

But the best of these is probably Vermont, whose official state fossil is the Beluga whale. Which is not extinct, and most certainly does not exist in the state of Vermont, which has no seacoast.

Figger out that one for me, will you Vermontifiers?

caw

Roxxsmom · Apr 12, 2014

blacbird said:
In reading about the SC event, I came across a map showing the states which do have official state fossils. Mine, Alaska, also has the woolly mammoth as the sanctioned beast. Only a few states do not have an officially designated state fossil, and, amazingly, Iowa, the state in which I grew up and just about the most fossil-rich state in the nation, does not have an official fossil. Similarly, fossil-rich Kansas, also does not have one.

But the best of these is probably Vermont, whose official state fossil is the Beluga whale. Which is not extinct, and most certainly does not exist in the state of Vermont, which has no seacoast.

Figger out that one for me, will you Vermontifiers?

caw

Maybe Kansas and Iowa couldn't decide which one to pick? Research has shown that when people have too many choices they often end up making none.

Maybe there's some fossil version of the beluga that they have chosen in Vermont. And Belugas do go up inland waterways. They're found in the St. Lawrence river estuary (and sadly are a case study for cancer in wildlife, poor things), for instance (though it doesn't flow through Vermont). And of course, some places that are dry land now were once covered with water. The table says it's a Pleistocene fossil, which is pretty recent. ~~Maybe lake Champlain once had them or something?~~

Ahh, here's the answer. The Atlantic once extended into areas of Vermont and NY, and there's a particular folliszed beluga whale skeleton that's in the museum at the university of Vermont.

http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Vermont/VT-fossil-whale.html

~~Or maybe they ate too much Ben and Jerry's and simply got their state mammal confused with the state fossil.~~

Maggie Maxwell · Apr 12, 2014

Apparently my state fossil is the megalodon tooth. Not the whole megalodon, just the teeth.

blacbird · Apr 12, 2014

TAMaxwell said:
Apparently my state fossil is the megalodon tooth. Not the whole megalodon, just the teeth.

That's because there are no fossilizable parts of a shark except the teeth. Sharks do not have bones.

caw

Maggie Maxwell · Apr 12, 2014

blacbird said:
That's because there are no fossilizable parts of a shark except the teeth. Sharks do not have bones.

caw

Huh, I legitimately did not know that. However, there are fossilized vertebrae from the megalodon, which, I suppose is not nearly as cool as their teeth.

Roxxsmom · Apr 12, 2014

I think the state fossil has to be something specific they actually found in that state, and it's usually a famous specimen they have in a museum somewhere. Massachusetts, which also has a state cookie, has dinosaur tracks as their official fossil.

There's a long list of official state things: gemstones, minerals, rocks, mammals, reptiles, fish, flowers, birds, fossils, songs, mottos, trees and so on.

California had a state senate bill back in 2009-2010 to remove serpentine as the state rock, but it died, thanks to a campaign by geologists to save the state rock. It got extremely acrimonious.

So it's not just creationists who play politics with official state whatevers.

I think we should increase the pride we all have in our states by expanding the list of state mascots even further.

State desserts (Massachusetts leads the way with its cookie)
State alcoholic beverage
State toxin
State sexual position
State mollusc
State parasite
State crime
State undergarment
State disease

Albedo · Apr 12, 2014

State serial killer
State pro wrestling signature move
State smell
State sin
Official state embarrassment
State other state (North Dakota can be the official state of Ohio, eg.)

Helix · Apr 12, 2014

Someone start a petition.

State gastrotrich
State proofreading mark
State Pantone colour
State stage of arthropod succession on cadavers
State state of mind (NY has that covered)

clintl · Apr 12, 2014

I think every state should have an official state nut.

New York, for instance, could choose between Andrew Weiner and Elliot Spitzer.
Michigan could pick Ted Nugent.
I'll leave nominees for the rest of the states to the imagination.

MaryMumsy · Apr 12, 2014

clintl said:
I think every state should have an official state nut.

New York, for instance, could choose between Andrew Weiner and Elliot Spitzer.
Michigan could pick Ted Nugent.
I'll leave nominees for the rest of the states to the imagination.

Here in AZ we have too many to choose from.

Our fossil is petrified wood.

MM

Cyia · Apr 12, 2014

TX's state "Stone" is a fossilized type of wood.

Don · Apr 13, 2014

Roxxsmom said:
I think the state fossil has to be something specific they actually found in that state, and it's usually a famous specimen they have in a museum somewhere. Massachusetts, which also has a state cookie, has dinosaur tracks as their official fossil.

There's a long list of official state things: gemstones, minerals, rocks, mammals, reptiles, fish, flowers, birds, fossils, songs, mottos, trees and so on.

California had a state senate bill back in 2009-2010 to remove serpentine as the state rock, but it died, thanks to a campaign by geologists to save the state rock. It got extremely acrimonious.

So it's not just creationists who play politics with official state whatevers.

I think we should increase the pride we all have in our states by expanding the list of state mascots even further.

State desserts (Massachusetts leads the way with its cookie)
State alcoholic beverage
State toxin
State sexual position
State mollusc
State parasite
State crime
State undergarment
State disease

Albedo said:
State serial killer
State pro wrestling signature move
State smell
State sin
Official state embarrassment
State other state (North Dakota can be the official state of Ohio, eg.)

Helix said:
Someone start a petition.

State gastrotrich
State proofreading mark
State Pantone colour
State stage of arthropod succession on cadavers
State state of mind (NY has that covered)

clintl said:
I think every state should have an official state nut.

New York, for instance, could choose between Andrew Weiner and Elliot Spitzer.
Michigan could pick Ted Nugent.
I'll leave nominees for the rest of the states to the imagination.

We'd all be better off if legislatures were restricted to such ceremonial decisions and left the rest of us the hell alone.

Filigree · Apr 13, 2014

Hear, hear. They aren't getting any real work done right now, anyway.

As for the OT, that poor girl. I don't know if that would be a rallying cry to grow up to change South Carolina, or just get the hell out. I know people who have turned down tech jobs because they didn't want to move there.

South Carolina state fossil

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