T. rex trackway – Credit: Tyler Lyson
Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first adult T. rex trackway, providing new insights into how this emblematic predator moved.
While a myriad of isolated footprints made by adults in the T. rex species have been found, this is the first time scientists can report a sequence of tracks, or a trackway, left by the most famous of dinosaurs.
The trackway was found by Kent Hups, a high school science teacher and amateur fossil hunter, on federal land administered by the U.S. Forest Service near Marmarth, North Dakota.
The 23-foot-long trackway consists of four three-toed footprints discovered in the Hell Creek Formation.
Each footprint is roughly 3 feet long, and researchers estimate they were made about 66.5 million years ago.
In findings published this week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the team identified T. rex as the likely track-maker based on the footprints’ exceptional size and narrow shape of the toes, along with the abundance of T. rex fossils found in the surrounding area.
“Bones tell us an enormous amount about these animals, but footprints capture a moment of behavior. With a trackway, we can actually follow an animal as it moved across the landscape.”
“That is incredibly rare for T. rex,” explained Tyler Lyson, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science who was leading the dig that Mr. Hups was volunteering on. (Watch the video below…)
T. rex trackway from drone – Credit: Tyler Lyson
The team later used high-resolution 3D surface scanning to document each footprint and the full trackway.
The resulting digital models allow scientists to examine the tracks in detail and create physical 3D reproductions, including dinosaur track expert, Peter Falkingham, a professor of paleobiology at Liverpool John Moores University who was lead author of the study.
“The technology we’re able to apply in the digital age means my colleagues could scan the tracks in the field and then send the 3D information over to me to visualize on my computer and in VR, enabling me to take as close a look as they did in person,” he said.
The trackway records two left and two right footprints, with a stride of approximately 13 feet. Researchers estimate the animal was walking about 3.5 to 4.5 mph, roughly comparable to a brisk human walking pace. Because the tracks are heavily weathered, the speed estimate is approximate.
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“As a teacher, I’m always telling my students that science starts with curiosity, passion and careful observation. I never imagined that could lead me to a discovery like this,” said Kent Hups, the teacher at Northglenn High School who found the site and co-authored the paper.
“It’s the closest you get to a time machine,” he told CBS News below…
Three of the footprints are expected to be recovered by helicopter this fall and then transported to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The Museum plans to share updates from the recovery with guests this winter.
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