I've been fascinated with dinosaurs since I was little. As a kid, I had dino action figures, a dino lunchbox, even dinosaur pajamas. Jurassic Park came out when I was ten years old, but I was a fan of the giant reptiles for years before the movie made every kid my age want to visit the fictional theme park.

I may not wear the dinosaur pj's to bed anymore, but I'm still a big fan and the state of South Dakota is the perfect spot for any dinosaur fan, as some of the largest and most famous dinos of all time have been unearthed here. Here are a few fun facts about dinosaurs found in South Dakota.

  • The Largest Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered was in South Dakota: The T Rex was discovered just outside the town of Faith, South Dakota in 1990 by explorer and fossil collector, Sue Hendrickson. The dinosaur is roughly 40 feet long and stands 13 feet high. To date, it's the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found, with over 90 percent of the bones intact. The fossil now resides at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
  • The State Fossil of South Dakota is the Triceratops: In 1988 South Dakota named the Triceratops fossil found in 1927 in Harding County as its state fossil. The Triceratops found lived about 68 million years ago during what is known as the Cretaceous period.
  • South Dakota has a Dinosaur named after it: The Dakotaraptor was also found in Harding County in the year 2005. They are described as "utterly lethal" and even had feathers. They were about 23 feet long and stood 6 feet high.
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