Four enormous three-toed footprints discovered in southwestern North Dakota provide the first known trackway attributed to an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, according to reports from The Guardian and Good Good News Network. Preserved in ancient mud about 66.5 million years ago within the Hell Creek Formation, the 23-foot trail reveals an animal moving at a brisk human walking pace of roughly 3.5 to 4.5 miles per hour.
Discovery of the Hell Creek Trackway
The trackway was identified in 2025 by Kent Hups, a volunteer associated with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, on federal land administered by the US Forest Service near Marmarth, North Dakota. According to researchers, the site preserves four distinct footprints arranged in an alternating sequence of two left and two right steps. Each individual impression measures roughly three feet long, with a stride distance of approximately 13 feet between successive steps. During the late Cretaceous Period, this region featured broad floodplains crossed by rivers near the Western Interior Seaway, providing the wet sediment necessary to capture and fossilize the steps before geological pressure hardened the material into rock.
Did you know? While isolated T. rex footprints have been documented previously, paleontologists lacked a connected sequence of multiple prints from an adult individual, making this discovery a vital behavioral fossil rather than purely anatomical evidence.
Identifying the T. rex Trackmaker
Assigning a track to a specific dinosaur species requires careful anatomical comparison, as multiple large predatory dinosaurs possessed three-toed feet. Scientists from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and Liverpool John Moores University examined the narrow angle between the toes, the overall form of the impressions, and the geological context of the Hell Creek Formation—an area renowned for abundant T. rex fossil bones. Because no other known animal in the region matches this exact combination of size, shape, and geological age, researchers concluded that an adult Tyrannosaurus rex left the trackway.
Rethinking Dinosaur Movement and Speed
The calculated speed of 3.5 to 4.5 miles per hour challenges the popular cultural depiction of T. rex as a constant sprinter or aggressive charger. According to biomechanical analyses, this pacing matches a relaxed human walk, demonstrating that the predator spent significant time conserving energy, navigating riverbanks, or moving between feeding areas without maintaining maximum velocity. Even at a walking gait, the sheer scale of a seven-ton animal leaving three-foot impressions and a 13-foot stride would have dominated its ecosystem.
Pro Tip: Researchers rely on digital 3D scans of trackways to examine sediment displacement and toe angles without disturbing fragile site conditions, a standard practice for modern paleontological fieldwork on public lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Hell Creek Formation?
The Hell Creek Formation is a fossil-rich region spanning parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming that dates back to the late Cretaceous Period.
How fast did the T. rex walk?
Based on the 13-foot stride length and estimated hip proportions, scientists calculated a speed of 3.5 to 4.5 miles per hour, comparable to a brisk human walk.
Who discovered the footprints?
The trackway was discovered in 2025 by Kent Hups, a volunteer with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Are the footprints going to be displayed in a museum?
Three of the four footprints are expected to be transferred to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for preservation, research, and public display.
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