Paleontologists discover first adult ‘T. rex’ footpath
Popular Science...
Tyrannosaurus rex fossils are relatively common finds, with dozens of variously complete examples on display in museums around the world. But T. rex tracks? That’s an entirely different story. Even when stomped into the mud by a 17,500-pound apex predator, dinosaur footprints rarely last long enough to fossilize over millions of years.
That’s what makes a recent discovery in southwestern North Dakota so remarkable. Paleontologists from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Liverpool John Moores University in England have documented not one, but four footprints preserved along a 23-foot-long path within the famous Hell Creek Formation. The prints are the first known trackway made by an adult T. rex, and are described in a study recently published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
While rare, T. rex footprints are distinctive for their massive size and narrow toes. In this case, each dino-stomp measures about three feet long. Paleontologists identified the roughly 66.5-million-year-old path last year on federal land near the town of Marmath, North Dakota, near the state’s southwestern border with Montana. After carefully clearing the surroundings, researchers imaged each footprint using a high-resolution 3D surface scanner. This allowed the team to digitally analyze the scene, as well as create physical reproductions.
The two left and right imprints suggest that the dinosaur was a sizable adult with an estimated 13-foot stride—but paleontologists don’t think this particular T. rex was in much of a hurry. Based on the gait, it was likely moseying around at 3.5 to 4.5 miles per hour, or about the same speed as a human going on a power-walk. Given the tracks’ weathering and erosion, the team stresses their theorized speed is somewhat speculative.
Paleontologists are now planning to excavate three of the four footprints later this year, then transfer them by helicopter to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
“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,” Tyler Lyson, a Denver Museum of Nature & Science paleontologist and study co-author, said in a statement. “That is incredibly rare for T. rex.”
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