Massive Footprints Reveal First Ever Adult T Rex Trackway, a 66-Million-Year-old Walk Through North Dakota - Good News Network
Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first adult T. rex trackway, a 23-foot-long sequence of four footprints in North Dakota's Hell Creek Formation, estimated to be 66.5 million years old. This rare find provides new insights into the movement and behavior of the iconic predator, complementing bone fossil data.
Why it matters
This discovery offers a unique glimpse into the actual locomotion of T. rex, allowing scientists to study its behavior in a way that isolated bones cannot, significantly enhancing our understanding of prehistoric life.
Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first adult T. rex trackway, providing new insights into how this emblematic predator moved.
While a myriad of isolated footprints made by adults in the T. rex species have been found, this is the first time scientists can report a sequence of tracks, or a trackway, left by the most famous of dinosaurs.
The trackway was found by Kent Hups, a high school science teacher and amateur fossil hunter, on federal land administered by the U.S. Forest Service near Marmarth, North Dakota.
The 23-foot-long trackway consists of four three-toed footprints discovered in the Hell Creek Formation.
Each footprint is roughly 3 feet long, and researchers estimate they were made about 66.5 million years ago.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in