Amateur Fossil Hunter Discovers First Adult T. rex Trackway in North Dakota
A groundbreaking discovery in southwestern North Dakota has unveiled four three-toed footprints, marking the first known adult Tyrannosaurus rex trackway. This finding was detailed in a study released on September 8 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The 23-foot trackway features two left and two right prints, each measuring approximately three feet in length, with the dinosaur believed to have traversed at speeds between 3.4 and 4.5 miles per hour. Kent Hups made the initial discovery in 2025 while assisting on a dig led by Tyler Lyson near Marmarth. The tracks, located in the Hell Creek Formation, were preserved as raised casts and later sent to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for additional analysis.
Key facts
- Four three-toed footprints found in southwestern North Dakota represent the first adult T. rex trackway ever discovered.
- The trackway measures roughly 23 feet long and includes two left and two right footprints, each around three feet long.
- Researchers estimate the T. rex was walking at a speed of roughly 3.4 to 4.5 miles per hour.
- Kent Hups, a high school teacher and amateur fossil hunter from Northglenn, Colorado, spotted the initial track in 2025.
- The dig was led by Tyler Lyson, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, near Marmarth, North Dakota.
- The study was published September 8 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
- The footprints were found in the Hell Creek Formation, a 66- to 68-million-year-old geologic layer spanning eastern Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming.
- Three footprints were wrapped in plaster and burlap for helicopter transport to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, with permission from the U.S. Forest Service.
Entities
Artists
- Kent Hups
- Tyler Lyson
- Andrey Atuchin
- Dustin Renwick
- Sarah Kuta
Institutions
- Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
- Denver Museum of Nature & Science
- National Geographic
- U.S. Forest Service
- Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi
- Smithsonian
Locations
- North Dakota
- United States
- Northglenn
- Colorado
- Marmarth
- New Mexico
- Montana
- Hell Creek Formation
- Wyoming
- Abu Dhabi
- United Arab Emirates
- Ouray