AI Generated Image
First-ever adult Tyrannosaurus rex trackway discovered in North Dakota badlands
WYFF • • science
Key Points:
- Paleontologists have discovered the first known trackway made by a full-grown Tyrannosaurus rex, consisting of four connected footprints found in southwestern North Dakota near the Montana border.
- This discovery, detailed in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, is significant as only two isolated adult T. rex footprints had previously been confirmed, neither showing movement.
- The trackway, about 23 feet long with footprints roughly 3 feet each, suggests the T. rex was walking at 3.5 to 4.5 mph despite weighing over seven tons.
- The footprints were attributed to T. rex based on their size, shape, and the presence of numerous tyrannosaur bones in the surrounding rock, including a juvenile specimen nicknamed "Teen Rex."
- Three of the footprints will be airlifted to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, with the tracks dating to approximately 66.5 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous period before the dinosaur extinction event.
