A Fairbanks legislator wants the state to have an official dinosaur, and he’s suggesting that it be a type of tyrannosaur whose remains were found on Alaska’s North Slope.
Republican Rep. Will Stapp introduced a bill Tuesday asking the Legislature to designate the Nanuqsaurus as Alaska’s state dinosaur. Its bones and teeth were discovered more than 30 years ago, and it’s thought to be a cousin of the T-rex, an apex predator of its time.
An artist's rendition of the Nanuqsaurus caught Stapp’s eye, but he admitted he chose it because of its namesake: the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Nanook mascot.
"I would be lying if I didn't see the name Nanuqasaurus, as a Fairbanks person, and say, 'Well, that probably should be the dinosaur,’” Stapp said. “But conceptually, to me, it's like this is a really cool area of research at UAF that I didn't really know about."
UAF's Pat Druckenmiller, a paleontologist and director of the UA Museum of the North, said he likes the proposal to name a state dinosaur and appreciates Stapp’s support for the university’s dinosaur research.
But, for now, Druckenmiller isn’t so sure that Nanuqsaurus is the best choice.
“When that Nanuqsaurus was first named, it was really just based on a handful of bones," he said. "And I mean literally a handful of bones, and that’s not typically considered adequate information to diagnose a new species.”
Since then, Druckenmiller said, researchers have collected more Nanuqsaurus fossils, done more analysis, and that new research is currently under review.
“We believe Nanuqsaurus is a valid species,” Druckenmiller said. “However, the features that were originally used to recognize it as distinct from other tyrannosaurs we do not think are valid.”
So, it’s complicated. Until the research makes it through the review process, Nanuqsaurus’s status remains in limbo, Druckenmiller said.
Rep. Stapp said he's heard about the issue with Nanuqsaurus's species classification, but he expects that will be resolved in committees as his bill moves forward.
Stapp said he's also been getting a lot of emails with other suggestions.
"I heard a Seawolf-a-saurus, but I don't know if that's a real dinosaur, let's put it that way,” Stapp said.
At least sixteen United States have an official state dinosaur, as does Washington D.C., with its aptly named Capitalsaurus.
