The Pennsylvania State fossil is currently a type of trilobite called Phacops rana. Phacops rana is a marine arthropod from the Paleozoic era. According to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, these can be found in rocks in central Pennsylvania that are 541 to 359 million years old.

The legislation, which will soon be introduced by state Representative Stephanie Borowicz (R-76), would change the state fossil to the Hynerpeton bassetti. What makes the Hynerpeton bassetti so unique is that it is only found in Pennsylvania.

The current state fossil can be found in 46 other states, five of which have also named it their state fossil, according to the memo.

The memo said that Paleontologists Dr. Edward Daeschler and Neil Shubin uncovered the fossilized remains of Hynerpeton bassetti at Red Hill in Hyner, Pennsylvania, in 1993.

The extinct four-legged vertebrate lived in the rivers and wetlands of Pennsylvania around 365 to 363 million years ago.

The memo said that the students from Bucktail High School’s Ecology Club are leading the effort to make the Hynerpeton bassetti the state fossil.