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Massive Footprints Reveal First Ever Adult T Rex Trackway, a 66-Million-Year-old Walk Through North Dakota
Good News Network • • science
Key Points:
- Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first adult T. rex trackway, a sequence of four three-toed footprints about 23 feet long, found near Marmarth, North Dakota in the Hell Creek Formation and estimated to be 66.5 million years old.
- The trackway was discovered by Kent Hups, a high school science teacher and amateur fossil hunter, and identified as T. rex based on the footprints' size, toe shape, and local fossil abundance.
- Researchers used high-resolution 3D surface scanning to document the footprints, allowing detailed digital analysis and physical 3D reproductions, enhancing the study of T. rex locomotion.
- The stride length of approximately 13 feet suggests the dinosaur was walking at about 3.5 to 4.5 mph, similar to a brisk human walking pace, though this speed estimate is approximate due to weathering of the tracks.
- Three of the footprints are planned to be recovered and transported to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science this fall, where they will be exhibited and studied further.
