Teacher Finds 23-Foot T. Rex Trackway in North Dakota, the First Confirmed Adult Walking Trail
Updated
Updated · The Seattle Times · Sep 20
Teacher Finds 23-Foot T. Rex Trackway in North Dakota, the First Confirmed Adult Walking Trail
3 articles · Updated · The Seattle Times · Sep 20
Summary
Kent Hups, a Colorado high school teacher volunteering in North Dakota, identified a 23-foot sequence of four three-toed prints as the first confirmed walking trackway of an adult Tyrannosaurus rex.
The tracks, found in July 2025 near Marmarth and published last week, include 3-foot-long footprints with 13-foot strides, indicating the 10-ton animal was moving at roughly 3.5 to 4.5 mph.
Researchers said the find is exceptionally rare because only two isolated adult T. rex footprints had previously been documented—one in Montana and one in New Mexico.
High-resolution 3D scans have documented the trackway, and three 800- to 1,000-pound prints are set to be helicopter-lifted next month to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for study and public display.
Scientists say the 66.5-million-year-old riverbank impressions could reveal how a T. rex foot contacted muddy ground, with a chance of preserving skin impressions and improving reconstructions of its gait.