Science Museum Wants Giant Beaver to be State Official Fossil

ST. PAUL -- The Science Museum of Minnesota Wednesday morning announcing the giant beaver has won the vote to go on and potentially become the Official State Fossil.

Minnesota is one of only seven states that does *not* already have a designated state fossil.

so we absolutely have every intention of taking this thing all the way through legislation and getting it passed

The Science Museum's Dr. Alex Hastings says an initial eight candidates were chosen, and the giant beaver was a write-in ninth candidate.

Geologic age: About 2.58 million years to 10,150 years old, Pleistocene Epoch

Region in Minnesota: Twin Cities area and Freeborn County, Minnesota

Fast fact: With its buck teeth and aquatic lifestyle, Castoroides ohioensis probably looked a lot like modern beavers. But you would have noticed at least one big difference: weighing over 200 pounds, Castoroides was the size of a small bear.