How did the initiative begin?

Where did the idea of ​​selecting regional fossils come from? How was it realised, and who are the key figures involved?

On this page, you can trace the main stages that led to the creation of this national project aimed at enhancing Italy’s paleontological heritage.

2017
The idea takes shape

Dr Andrea Villa, a young researcher and Treasurer of the Italian Palaeontological Society, proposes organising a nationwide contest to select a symbol fossil from every region of Italy.

Inspiration comes from two fronts:

  • In the United States, each state has a State Fossil;
  • A few years earlier, the Italian Botanical Society proposed the same initiative to elect the symbolic plant for each Italian region.
2019
Paleodays
The initiative kicks off

Following a series of informal proposals, the initiative was officially launched within the Palaeontological Society during Paleodays 2019, in Benevento.

The first step is to form an expert group to select representative fossils. 

To this end, regional palaeontology coordinators are contacted; within a couple of months, they establish special Regional Committees composed of scholars in the field.

image credits: Università degli Studi del Sannio

2019-2020
Protagonists are selected

During this phase, the regional committees identify candidates in accordance with specific guidelines:

  • Fossils should not be selected solely for their aesthetic appearance, but also for their historical significance and their connection to the region they come from.
  • Fossils must be accessible to the public and available for visits;
  • It is important to ensure awide range of diversity: a regional committee cannot, for example, nominate only mammal specimens, but must aim to cover as wide a range of organism groups as possible;
  • non There should be no competition between regions: the primary objective is to showcase the national paleontological heritage in its entirety.

Based on these guidelines, the descriptive sheets for each candidate are prepared.

2022
Paleodays
Voting begins

During the 2022 Paleodays in Asti, voting officially opened; the vote was made public via a Google Form and promoted on PaiP’s Instagram and Facebook pages. Each week throughout the year, a region will be featured twice.

2023
Paleodays
Winners announcements

The voting process ends one month before the 2023 Paleodays, in Lecce, to allow time for data analysis and the official confirmation of the winners, who are then announced during the event.

Each winner is finally awarded a recognition plaque, confirming their selection as the Regional Fossil.

2024-2025
SPI website
A cross-museum digital environment

To broaden the initiative, a cross-museum digital environment was developed as the internship project of Alessio Baglioni, master's student in the Teaching and Communication of Natural Sciences program at the University of Bologna. The project was born from the contribution and supervision of Daniele Scarponi, professor of palaeontology at the Alma Mater Studiorum, with the support of the PaiP committee and the SPI website technician, Dr Michele Mazza. 

The goal is to experiment with new digital communication tools to raise awareness of the Fossili Regionali initiative while engaging an increasing number of people and enthusiasts.

A look ahead

The initiative doesn’t end here!

The site is constantly being updated, and new ideas and proposals are already under development. Thanks to the joint efforts of PaiP and SPI, the topic of enhancing, preserving, and communicating the national paleontological heritage will continue to grow, become enriched, and spread. 

The goal is to engage an ever-wider audience, making the extraordinary richness of Italian fossils accessible to everyone ..

Credits and acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Andrea Villa for sharing the information on this page.