Science

Unusually Large Footprints: First Adult T. Rex Trackway

In 2025, Colorado teacher Kent Hups found unusually large three-toed impressions in North Dakota's Hell Creek Formation. Excavation revealed four connected foo…

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THE WALK

A large theropod, likely an adult T. rex, crosses soft sediment

A large theropod, most likely an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, walked across soft sediment in what is now southwestern North Dakota, leaving four footprints later buried, pre…

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THE FIRST IMPRESSION

Kent Hups notices an unusually large footprint

Kent Hups, a Colorado high-school teacher volunteering on a fossil dig in the Hell Creek Formation, noticed an unusually large, three-toed impression in the rock and bro…

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FOUR FOOTPRINTS CONFIRMED

Excavation reveals a full 23-foot trackway

Excavation revealed the strange shape was one of four connected three-toed footprints, forming a walking sequence roughly 7 metres (23 feet) long, with each print about…

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3D DOCUMENTATION

High-resolution 3D surface scanning documents the site

Researchers documented the trackway using detailed measurements and high-resolution 3D surface scanning, producing digital models examined without repeatedly disturbing…

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PAPER PUBLISHED

Peer-reviewed description names the first adult T. rex trackway

"A large tridactyl trackway from the Upper Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota, likely attributable to an adult Tyrannosaurus rex" was published, formally de…

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HELICOPTER RECOVERY

Three footprints to be airlifted to the Denver Museum

Three of the four footprints are due to be airlifted out by helicopter this autumn and taken to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for preparation and further researc…

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