BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) The North Dakota Legislature has agreed to pay $1.5 million to keep Dakota the duckbilled dinosaur's permanent digs in Bismarck.
North Dakota's House and Senate endorsed the deal Tuesday as part of the state Historical Society's $21.3 million budget.
Along with the $1.5 million in taxpayer dollars, another $1.5 million must be raised from private funds to keep the rare mummified fossil on display at the North Dakota Heritage Center on the state Capitol grounds.
Tyler Lyson discovered the dinosaur on his uncle's ranch in southwestern North Dakota in 1999.
Researchers say Dakota is one of the most important dinosaur discoveries in recent times. The petrified beast has been the subject of a children's book and an adult book, and National Geographic television programs.