Meek Dinosaur May Inherit the State

The Atreipus milfordensis may not be as ferocious as the tyrannosaurus, as big as the brontosaurus or as fast as the velociraptor. But the extinct dog-sized plant-eater may soon own a title the others don’t: Pennsylvania state dinosaur.

Paleontologists believe it traveled in flocks across the eastern U.S. about 200 million years ago.

A bill to nominate the dinosaur is to be introduced in the Legislature this month. Ten other states have designated state dinosaurs.

At least one lawmaker isn’t sold on the idea. “I grew up in a meat-and-potatoes district, so I’d like to have a carnivorous state dinosaur,” said state Rep. Jim Wansacz, a Lackawanna Democrat. “Why would we want a wimpy dinosaur?”