It’s official: Minnesota’s state fossil is the giant beaver, an extinct creature the size of a small bear that roamed around the Twin Cities more than 10,000 years ago.
Lawmakers had approved the new state fossil earlier this year as part of a broader omnibus bill, which Governor Tim Walz signed into law in May. The bill—which included a short provision about the gargantuan Ice Age rodent—officially took effect July 1, report Dana Ferguson, Peter Cox and Clay Masters for MPR News. (Minnesota now has a state constellation, too: Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Dipper.)
“Minnesota has a deep connection to beavers—from our modern ecosystems to our prehistoric past,” Alex Hastings, a paleontologist at the Science Museum of Minnesota, said in a May statement. “The giant beaver fossil specimens in our collection have long captivated visitors of all ages, making this massive Ice Age mammal the perfect symbol of our state’s ancient natural history.”…