Arkansas House passes bill designating state dinosaur

Artist Brian Engh rendered the Arkansaurus fridayi for ReBecca Hunt-Foster, the paleontologist trying to get the dinosaur officially recognized as a distinct type.
Artist Brian Engh rendered the Arkansaurus fridayi for ReBecca Hunt-Foster, the paleontologist trying to get the dinosaur officially recognized as a distinct type.

The Arkansas House of Representatives on Monday afternoon moved forward with a resolution to give official recognition to a dinosaur discovered decades ago in the state.

With 99 members of the 100-member legislative body present and voting verbally, lawmakers passed the resolution with no audible objections. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

The proposal, a goal of an Arkansas high school student that was introduced by state Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, got its first vote of approval last week by a House committee.

Fayetteville High School senior Mason Cypress Oury spoke in front of a House panel Wednesday, outlining why Arkansas needs recognition for the findings, which were studied at the University of Arkansas.

In 1972, Arkansan Joe Friday reportedly discovered a fossilized foot on his land, later unofficially deemed Arkansaurus fridayi, while searching for a lost cow, Arkansas Online previously reported.

Check back with Arkansas Online for updates.

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