First adult T-rex footprints found in this US state
What's the story
A team of scientists has made a groundbreaking discovery by unearthing the first known series of adult Tyrannosaurus rex footprints in North Dakota, US. The 23-foot-long trackway, which includes four three-toed footprints (two left and two right), was first spotted last year in the Hell Creek Formation, a dinosaur fossil site in southwestern North Dakota. The research was conducted by experts from Colorado's Denver Museum of Nature and Science and Liverpool John Moores University (UK).
Behavioral clues
Footprints reveal behavioral patterns
The footprints, dating back 66.5 million years, are the first of their kind to be discovered and identified.
Tyler Lyson, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum, emphasized the importance of such finds.
He said that while bones provide a lot of information about these creatures, footprints reveal behavioral patterns.
"With a trackway, we can actually follow an animal as it moved across the landscape," he added.
Speed estimation
Estimated walking speed of T-rex
The footprints measure about three feet in length, with a stride of nearly 13 feet.
The research team used high-resolution 3D surface scanning to document each footprint and create physical 3D reproductions.
From this work, they estimated that the animal was walking at a speed of around 3.5-7.25km/h, similar to a brisk human walking pace.
Exhibition plans
Three footprints to be taken to museum
Three of the discovered footprints will be airlifted later this year and taken to the Denver museum.
The discovery is especially exciting for Kent Hups, a Colorado schoolteacher who found the site.
"As a teacher, I'm always telling my students that science starts with curiosity, passion and careful observation," said Hups, a long-time museum volunteer who co-authored the paper on this discovery.