Tracing T. rex: The Discovery of the World's First Adult Trackway

Paleontologists and a high school teacher uncover a 66.5-million-year-old footprint sequence in North Dakota.How did a full-grown Tyrannosaurus rex move across its prehistoric environment? In this episode, we examine a paleontological breakthrough in North Dakota’s Hell Creek Formation: the discovery of the first-ever adult T. rex trackway. Found by high school teacher Kent Hups and analyzed by researchers from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Liverpool John Moores University, the 23-foot-long (7-meter) path features four three-toed footprints preserved in 3D sandstone casts. We explain how high-resolution 3D scanning allowed experts to estimate the animal's brisk walking pace of 3.5 to 4.5 mph (5.6 to 7.2 km/h). We also discuss why fossilized footprints capture moments of behavior that bone fossils alone cannot reveal. Finally, we cover the logistics of airlifting three of the footprints by helicopter to the Denver Museum.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/scitech-brief--6846358/support.This episode includes AI-generated content.