Archaeologists in North Dakota have unearthed the first set of footprints of a running T-Rex, after a teacher led them to the “incredibly rare” find. The four giant three-toed footprints of a massive 66-million-year-old T-Rex cover 23 feet and were found in the Hell Creek Formation in the state’s Badlands, The Sun reported Friday. Science The Denver Museum of Nature and Science “Bones tell us a lot about these animals, but footprints capture a moment of behavior,” Tyler Lyson, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, told the outlet. “With a footprint, we can follow an animal as it moves across the landscape. “That’s incredibly rare for the T-Rex,” Lyson said. T-Rex footprints found in North Dakota’s Badlands last year, the first continuous footprints found. Denver Museum of Nature and Science The footprints measure about 3.3 feet per step. Single T-Rex tracks from adult and juvenile dinosaurs have already been discovered, but the North Dakota discovery marks the first time continuous footprints have been identified Scientists from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and Liverpool John Moores University in England The fossils were found by Colorado school teacher Kent Hups, co-author of a paper advising students. that “science begins with curiosity, passion and careful observation. “I never imagined that could lead to a discovery like this,” Hups told The Sun. Scientists also found remains of T-Rex skeletons in the area, the outlet said. The prints are now scheduled to be airlifted by helicopter and transported to the Denver museum.
