Arizona boy proposes state dinosaur, bill moving through Legislature
Feb 1, 2018, 2:14 PM
(Creative Commons Photo)
(Creative Commons Photo)
PHOENIX — A bill was working its way through the Legislature after a boy proposed to Gov. Doug Ducey that Arizona needed a state dinosaur.
“It’s really a neat thing that a student here in our state took the time to do this research and bring this into the legislative process,” Ducey’s spokesman, Daniel Scarpinato, said.
The process began when 11-year-old Jax Weldon sent a letter to Ducey’s office about the Sonorasaurus, of which fossils had been found in southeastern Arizona.
“[Weldon] had done a lot of research on this dinosaur and had even drawn a picture of the dinosaur so the governor invited [Weldon] to the governor’s office,” Scarpinato said.
Ducey thought designating an official dinosaur for Arizona was a great idea.
“The state doesn’t have a dinosaur,” Scarpinato said. “A lot of other states, including California, do.”
Ducey’s team put together a bill that has since garnered bipartisan support in the Arizona Legislature.
The governor has also said he would sign the bill should it be passed.
The Sonorasaurus was first discovered in 1994.
It was estimated to have lived in the middle Cretaceous, meaning between 112 million and 93 million years ago. It was the first known brachiosaur to have lived in North America during that time period.
The animal was believed to have been about 50 feet long and 27 feet tall.
KTAR News’ Ali Vetnar contributed to this report.
