Massachusetts Rep wants to name 'State Dinosaur' to teach kids about legislative process

Massachusetts State Representative Jack Lewis has launched a campaign to help designate an official "State Dinosaur". Lewis claims that the initiative will help kids learn about the legislative process. Lewis is planning to file legislation on January 15 based on the results of a survey he is conducting online. Lewis has said that twelve states across the United States have already designated an official "State Dinosaur", adding with the help of the people he wants to make Massachusetts next on the list. 

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The poll to pick a dinosaur, that Lewis will advocate for in the State's House of Representative to be named as the official "State Dinosaur", is open to any resident of Massachusetts and to those with close connections to the Commonwealth. Lewis has picked two species of the dinosaur for the survey, both of which were discovered in Massachusetts. The dinosaurs up for consideration are "Podokesaurus holyokensis" and "Anchisaurus polyzelus".   

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Two dinosaurs up for contest

Lewis shared details of the two dinosaurs for the people to choose from and decide. Podokesaurus holyokensis, which means "Swift-footed lizard of Holyoke", was first discovered in 1910 by Mignon Talbot, the first woman to name and describe a dinosaur. Podokesaurus holyokensis was 3-6 feet in length and weighed approximately 90 pounds (40 kilograms). The species could run at an estimated speed of 9-12 mph. As per Lewis, the only known fossil of the species was destroyed in a fire at Mt. Holyoke College, but many replicas and casts of the fossil still remain at museums across the United States. 

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Anchisaurus polyzelus, meaning "Much sought after near lizard", was a plant-eating dinosaur. The bones of the species were first discovered in 1855 in Springfield, Massachusetts. The species was 6-7 feet long and because of their size smaller size, the bones discovered in Massachusetts were originally mistaken for human remains. The specimens of the dinosaur are currently stored at the Amherst College Beneski Museum of Natural History and the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. 

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