First T. Rex Trackway Found in North Dakota

For the first time ever, scientists can see exactly how a Tyrannosaurus rex moved across the ancient world.

Researchers from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Liverpool John Moores University announced they've discovered the first trackway made by an adult T. rex. This isn't just a single footprint but four consecutive steps that tell a story about how these massive predators actually walked.

Volunteer Kent Hups found the remarkable trackway in 2025 near Marmarth, North Dakota, in the Hell Creek Formation on federal land. The 23-foot-long path consists of four three-toed footprints, each roughly three feet long and made about 66.5 million years ago.

While scientists had previously found two isolated T. rex footprints, this marks the first time they've documented a sequence of tracks. That makes all the difference when trying to understand how these animals actually moved through their environment.

The trackway reveals something surprisingly relatable about the fearsome predator. Researchers estimate the T. rex was walking at 3.5 to 4.5 miles per hour, roughly the same pace as a human taking a brisk walk.

Why This Inspires

This discovery opens a window into the daily life of one of Earth's most iconic creatures. Instead of just imagining T. rex from bones, scientists can now study how it moved, where it walked, and how it navigated its world.

The find shows how even the most studied animals still hold secrets waiting for patient volunteers and researchers to uncover. Hups' discovery proves that groundbreaking scientific moments can happen to anyone willing to look closely at the world around them.

Three of the four footprints will arrive at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science this fall, where visitors can see them firsthand. That means kids and adults alike will soon stand face to face with real evidence of a T. rex's ancient stroll.

After 66.5 million years, we finally know how the king of dinosaurs walked the Earth.