Sunday, August 30, 2026

Question: Which dinosaur is Colorado’s official state fossil?

Answer: The Stegosaurus. Gov. Richard Lamm signed the designation April 28, 1982, after a fourth-grade class at McElwain Elementary in Thornton spent two years lobbying for it. The kids ran the actual legislative process as a class project and traveled the state rallying support. The specimen that clinched Colorado’s claim was dug up at Garden Park near Cañon City in 1937 by high school teacher Frederick Kessler and his students, and it’s on display at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.