Scientists in North Dakota have discovered what researchers believe is the first known trackway left by an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, preserving the predator's footsteps some 66.5 million years after it walked the Earth.
The findings, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on September 9, centered on footprints discovered near Marmarth, North Dakota, in the Hell Creek Formation of southwestern North Dakota. The trackway, which stretches over 23 feet and consists of at least four three-toed prints, was discovered in 2025 on federal land administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
According to the researchers, the identification of the trackway as a T. rex was based on the exceptional size and narrow shape of the toes, as well as the abundance of T. rex fossils found in the surrounding area. The prints are roughly 3 feet long, and their enormous size led researchers to determine that they were left by an adult T. rex.
While other isolated footprints have been attributed to adult T. rex, researchers said no adult T. rex trackway had been described previously. "This is the first time scientists have described a sequence of tracks, or trackway, likely left by this most famous of dinosaurs," the researchers noted.
The discovery was made by a team of researchers led by Peter Falkingham, a paleobiology professor at Liverpool John Moores University in England, who analyzed the footprints remotely using high-resolution 3D surface scanning data. The team has since returned to the site and made another discovery, finding a fifth track while excavating farther into the hill.
NTC Report coverage is based on reporting from the original publisher.
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