Silvisaurus

Silvisaurus, from the Latin silva "woodland" and Greek sauros "lizard", is a nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Early to Late Cretaceous period. It is the only known dinosaur species named from terrestrial deposits in Kansas and was designated the official state land fossil in 2023.

==Discovery and species== left|thumb|Skull A fossil of the species was discovered in the 1950s by rancher Warren W. Condray of Wells, Kansas. He notified senator Frank Carlson who directed him to the chancellor of the University of Kansas, Franklin David Murphy. Murphy sent the preparator of the paleontology of vertebrates department of the natural history museum of the university, Russell R. Camp, to investigate the matter. In July 1955 Camp, with help from Condray, recovered the skeleton of a dinosaur. It was further prepared by Camp and Glenn H. Marihugh. In 1960 the find was described and named by Theodore H. Eaton Jr., also from the University of Kansas, as the type species Silvisaurus condrayi. The generic name is derived from Latin silva, "wood", in reference to the probably densely forested habitat of the animal. The specific name honours Condray. To date, Silvisaurus includes only the type species.