First-ever chain of footprints of an adult tyrannosaur discovered

A chain of four three-toed footprints, 66.5 million years old, left by an adult tyrannosaur has been discovered in the Hell Creek Formation (North Dakota). The find was made by schoolteacher Kent M. Hups. Scientists used 3D scanning to study the 7-meter-long trackway with a stride of about 4 meters. The predator's speed was 5.6–7.2 km/h. Three footprints are planned to be airlifted by helicopter to the Denver Museum.

In the Hell Creek Formation in the US state of North Dakota, the first-ever chain of footprints of an adult tyrannosaur (Tyrannosaurus rex) has been discovered. The find was made not by a professional paleontologist, but by a school science teacher, Kent M. Hups, who noticed the impressions on federal land near the town of Marmarth. He became a co-author of the scientific study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The chain consists of four three-toed footprints, 66.5 million years old — two left and two right, each about 0.9 meters long, with a stride of approximately four meters. The 7-meter-long trackway allowed scientists to calculate the predator's movement speed: from 5.6 to 7.2 km/h, comparable to a human's brisk walk. To document the find without risk of damage, high-precision 3D scanning was used; Professor of Paleobiology Peter Falkingham studied the footprints in virtual reality. Immediate plans include the evacuation of three of the four footprints by helicopter for display at the Denver Museum.