Paleontology in Virginia refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Virginia. The geologic column in Virginia spans from the Cambrian to the Quaternary. During the early part of the Paleozoic, Virginia was covered by a warm shallow sea. This sea would come to be inhabited by creatures like brachiopods, bryozoans, corals, and nautiloids. The state was briefly out of the sea during the Ordovician, but by the Silurian it was once again submerged. During this second period of inundation the state was home to brachiopods, trilobites and entire reef systems. During the mid-to-late Carboniferous the state gradually became a swampy environment.
During the Triassic, the state was covered vegetated by horsetails and trees. Dinosaurs roamed the area, leaving behind both bones and footprints. Many fishes from local lakes were preserved during the Jurassic. Virginia was covered by seawater again during the Cretaceous, when belemnites and corals inhabited the state. Sea levels rose and fell during the Cenozoic. Local marine invertebrates, sharks, and whales were preserved. During the Ice Age, Virginia was home to mastodons. During the late 18th century, Thomas Jefferson directed his scholarly attention to local fossils. Dinosaur tracks were discovered at Oak Hill in the 1920s. The scallop Chesapecten jeffersonius is the Virginia state fossil.