House lawmakers consider making giant beaver Minnesota's state fossil

Milk and blueberry muffins, honeycrisp apples, “Grace,” ice hockey, L’etoile du Nord and “Hail! Minnesota.”

Each is among 19 state symbols in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

A 200-pound creature that inhabited some of those waters could up the symbol total to 20.

Sponsored by Rep. Andrew Myers (R-Tonka Bay), HF791 would designate Castoroides ohioensis, better known as the giant beaver, as the official state fossil.

Minnesota is one of four states without a state fossil.

“I see state symbols as a wonderful educational opportunity to introduce new things to our kids as they’re growing up through the school system as well as everyone else in the state,” said Alex Hastings, the Fitzpatrick Chair of Paleontology at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

A 2021 poll conducted by the museum received nearly 11,500 votes across 415 Minnesota ZIP codes and students from 61 Minnesota schools voiced support for their favorite state fossil candidates. The giant beaver easily won with 25% of the tallies, beating the ancient bison by 9%. Three other vote-getters reached at least 10%.

According to the Science Museum of Minnesota’s 2025 fossil campaign:

• a distant relative of the modern beaver, the giant beaver was the size of a small bear;
• it inhabited waterways and the developing glacial lakes as the ice receded across the state;
• it roamed the metro area and southern Minnesota during the last ice age;
• nearly complete skeletons have been found in Minneapolis and St. Paul; and
• the last-known Castoroides ohioensis lived in North America about 10,150 years ago.

The House State Government Finance and Policy Committee laid the bill over, as amended, Thursday for future consideration. The amendment would add “or Copa in Dakota and Amik in Ojibwe” to describe the animal that existed when the first people were settling into what became Minnesota.

“As far as I’m aware this is the only state that would have indigenous translations included in a bill for a state fossil,” Hastings said.

In a letter to the committee, Board Chair Robert Larsen and Executive Director Shannon Geshick of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council expressed support.

“The likely interaction between Capa/Amik and the first peoples of Minnesota makes this a good choice to represent its ancient life and connect with its modern culture. The living beaver is important to healthy wetlands across this state, and the presence of this ancient relative across much of Minnesota shows its importance as well. Establishing a state symbol for this animal would open new paths for education around the natural heritage of fossils, and hopefully connect people further to its deep history.”

Another Myers-sponsored bill, HF1172, would designate Ursa Minor as the official state constellation. It was also laid over by the committee Thursday.