B.C. looks for official fossil

B.C. has an official flower, bird and animal — and now it's looking for an official fossil.

The government is asking people for their ideas on a fossil as part of consultations on setting up a program to manage the province's fossil record.

Dr. Richard Hebda, the earth history curator the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria, said fossils give a rare view into prerecorded history and the framework would set out clear ways for handling and preserving them.

The province is also working with the B.C. Paleontological Alliance to designate a provincial fossil, and average people can also submit their suggestions through the consultation website.

The fossil would be added to the dogwood flower, the kermode bear, or Spirit Bear, and the Steller's jay as official B.C. symbols.