Paleontologists Unearth 4-Print Adult T. rex Trackway in North Dakota

Q: What hidden secrets about the T. rex's daily life did an amateur fossil hunter accidentally uncover in the North Dakota badlands?

An amateur fossil hunter uncovered a rare snapshot of an adult T. rex’s everyday movement: it was calmly walking across a muddy Late Cretaceous landscape in what is now North Dakota. The key find was the first known adult T. rex trackway, discovered by high school teacher and longtime fossil hunter Kent Hups in the Hell Creek Formation near Marmarth. What he spotted as an odd raised shape turned out to be part of a sequence of four confirmed footprints, each nearly 3 feet long, stretching about 23 feet. Researchers say the size, narrow three-toed shape and 13-foot stride strongly indicate a full-grown T. rex. What this reveals is behavior that bones cannot show. From the spacing and layout of the prints, scientists estimate the animal was moving at only about 3.5 to 4.5 miles per hour, roughly a brisk human walking pace. That suggests the predator was not charging or hunting at full speed, but simply moving through its environment at a leisurely pace. The trackway also offers clues to biomechanics and foot anatomy, and possibly skin and pad structure, because footprints preserve how the foot actually met the ground. Researchers documented the site with high-resolution 3D scans and replicas before planning excavation. In short, Hups accidentally revealed not just that T. rex lived there, but how one adult actually walked across the landscape 66.5 million years ago—a fleeting moment of daily life preserved in stone.

3 articles · Updated · Smithsonian Magazine · Sep 15

Four three-toed footprints near Marmarth, North Dakota, make up the first adult T. rex trackway ever found, a 23-foot trail dating to about 66.5 million years ago.
Stride and foot measurements indicate the dinosaur was walking about 3.4 to 4.5 mph, and one print may preserve a claw impression that could sharpen evidence on T. rex movement.
Kent Hups, a Colorado high school teacher volunteering on a 2025 dig, first spotted the protruding track; researchers tied it to T. rex by the prints’ size, shape and Hell Creek location.
Three tracks were plaster-wrapped this summer for helicopter transport to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, while high-resolution 3D scans were made in case erosion destroys the site.
The find is especially rare because Hell Creek’s ancient floodplain usually erased large theropod footprints, making this trackway an unusual behavioral snapshot beyond what bones alone can show.

Sources

Smithsonian Magazine58d ago

First Adult T. rex Trackway Discovered in North Dakota

The New York Times58d ago

Teacher Kent Hups Discovers First Confirmed T. Rex Walking Trackway in North Dakota

Good News Network61d ago

First Adult T. Rex Trackway Confirmed in North Dakota by Scientists

20 Sources

What hidden secrets about the T. rex's daily life did an amateur fossil hunter accidentally uncover in the North Dakota badlands?

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