Western Mass. dinosaurs may soon represent stateDate: 1/20/2021 WESTERN MASS. – The Commonwealth of Massachusetts may soon have a state dinosaur.
The legislation is set to be filed later this month by state Rep. Jack Lewis who serves the Seventh Middlesex District. Lewis said the idea to file the legislation for Massachusetts to have a state dinosaur first came about after planning Cub Scout activities for his youngest child. “The idea grew out of some planning for my youngest kids Cub Scout den. One of the option adventures for the second grade Cub Scouts is to learn about fossils and dinosaurs,” he said.
Lewis said in doing his own research, he found that recently more states had been declaring a state dinosaur. “In my research into the topics, I came across that 12 states declared a state dinosaur, many doing so over the last couple of years,” he said. “Before I knew it, I was staying up late one night emailing paleontologists in Massachusetts asking them about what they thought about a creation of an official state dinosaur.”
Lewis said paleontologists got back to him very quickly, and were “very excited about the possibility.” It was then a survey was made for people across the Commonwealth to engage with, asking them to choose between two dinosaurs to represent the Commonwealth. The first, the Podokesaurus holyokensis, according to facts on the survey, was first discovered near Mount Holyoke in 1910. The dinosaur’s name means “Swift-footed lizard of Holyoke.” The carnivore was three to six feet long, weighed 90 pounds and was estimated to run between nine to 12 miles per hour.
The second dinosaur on the survey is the Anchisaurus Polyzelus, whose name means “Much sought after near lizard.” The first bones of the herbivore, according to the survey, were discovered in Springfield in 1855 and were among “the earliest dinosaur remains from North America to be described by science.” The dinosaur was 6.5 feet long and weighed between 60 to 70 pounds.
Lewis said the two dinosaurs on the survey were the “only two dinosaurs that have been discovered so far in Massachusetts,” which was both “fortunate and unfortunate.” He said while paleontologists have found evidence “other dinosaurs lived in Massachusetts,” there is only evidence of two species having been discovered in the state so far.
“While they’re not the huge creatures we see in movies and they’re not the well-known names we learned as kids, each dinosaur serves a unique role in the history of paleontology and is very much rooted in Massachusetts,” he said.
The survey, Lewis said, had been completed by more than 26,000 people as of the afternoon of Jan. 13. “I was unprepared for the amount of interest this would generate,” he said.
He said his hope with the project was to “help connect local students with the history of paleontology,” he also wanted to “help local students understand the connection between careers and interest and a possible career in paleontology.” However, his “ultimate goal” was to get people across Massachusetts “to participate in the advocacy that we’re going to be doing over the next year.” Such advocacy, he said, could translate into a working or professional relationship with their local state representative or senator who can help them with issues such as health insurance or employment benefits.
“If my dinosaur project helps connect one person with their state representative and that connection can serve them well down the road, it’ll be worth it,” he said.
He said the project had “become more than my initial hopes,” and was happy to see that people from “all across Massachusetts have gotten involved.”
“In the days ahead I am exploring additional programming possibilities with the Museum of Science and the museums out in Western Mass. that have a close connection to these dinosaurs,” he said. “I’m very excited about what this will mean for not only for projects, but the connections I’ve made through this project.”
The legislation, he explained, would be filed by the end of February. “In the days ahead, I’ll be working with statewide partners to discuss an extension and additional ways to support the project,” he said. “Come mid-February one of the dinosaurs will be selected by the poll and will be included in the legislature.”
Following the filing of the legislature, Lewis said it will be assigned to a committee and the have a hearing date which will provide “an opportunity for anyone in the community to send in letters of support, to testify up to three minutes a person, to share their feelings.” He said while he and his team would be “working closely with folks on how to show support,” he hoped that schools and libraries would “be helping young people in particular to write letters [and] send drawings,” in support of the legislation. The legislation would then be voted on by the House. However, he pointed out that the “next year of advocacy will be vital.”
He said at this time, if people want to see Massachusetts represented by one of the two dinosaurs they should fill out the survey
online at https://docs.google.com/
forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSflfOrpqmuftXT-YJD4t-gPSbYhB1Sw3-0BmwIDjGHReMcRzw/viewform. The survey is open until Jan. 29. He also encouraged people participating in the survey to share their email address, which will “only be used for this specific purpose.”
“The most important thing people can do is complete the survey and share their email address, and the weeks and months ahead we will be sending info on how and when to reach out,” he said. Lewis also encouraged those with questions and interest to reach out to him via email at jack.Lewis@mahouse.gov.
In closing, he emphasized that this was just one of many bills that would be filed this legislative session and it was “in no way distracting me from the very important work I’m doing.”
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