First known T. rex trackway reveals how the dinosaur moved

Key Points:

• Kent Hups, a high school science teacher and volunteer researcher, discovered the first known Tyrannosaurus rex trackway in the Hell Creek Formation, a fossil-rich area spanning parts of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
• The trackway consists of at least five large footprints, each about 3 feet long and 2 to 2.5 feet wide, indicating they were made by a large carnivorous dinosaur, consistent with T. rex anatomy and size.
• The discovery, detailed in a September 2025 study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, provides rare evidence of T. rex’s live movement, including stride length and walking speed estimated at 3.5 to 4.5 mph.
• Prior to this, only isolated T. rex footprints had been found, making this the first definitive trackway and offering new insights into the dinosaur’s behavior and gait that bones alone cannot reveal.
• Researchers plan to further analyze the prints for tissue and skin impressions, and the find may encourage more detailed searches for dinosaur footprints in the Hell Creek Formation and similar sites.