science & discovery•Thu, September 17, 2026•4 min read

A 66-Million-Year-Old Stroll: The First Adult T. Rex Trackway Is Finally Here

Paleontologists have unearthed the first-ever trackway left by an adult Tyrannosaurus rex in North Dakota. This rare discovery provides scientists with a unique opportunity to study how the iconic predator moved across the ancient landscape.

A Rare Glimpse Into the Past

For over a century, the Tyrannosaurus rex has stood as the undisputed king of the dinosaurs, yet much of its movement remained a subject of scientific modeling and educated guesswork. That changed recently in the badlands of southwestern North Dakota, where a team of scientists discovered the first-ever confirmed trackway of an adult T. rex. Found within the Hell Creek Formation, this sequence of four massive, three-toed footprints dates back approximately 66.5 million years, offering an unprecedented look at how this fearsome predator navigated its environment.

Tyler Lyson, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, stands next to the monumental discovery in North Dakota.

Why This Discovery Matters

While isolated T. rex footprints have been identified in the past, they provide only a snapshot of a single moment. A trackway, by contrast, acts as a fossilized path, allowing researchers to calculate the creature's gait, stride, and speed. Before this discovery, scientists lacked concrete evidence of an adult T. rex walking across a landscape, making this find a major milestone in vertebrate paleontology.

The trackway spans over 23 feet, featuring four distinct, large footprints.
The prints were discovered in the Hell Creek Formation, an area rich in Upper Cretaceous and Lower Paleocene fossils.
The discovery was a joint effort between the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Liverpool John Moores University.
These footprints were left by a fully grown adult, distinguishing them from previous findings of smaller tyrannosaurid tracks.

With a trackway, we can actually follow an animal as it moved across the landscape. That is incredibly rare for T. rex.
— Research team perspective

Looking Ahead

This discovery does more than just fill a gap in the fossil record; it opens new avenues for understanding the biomechanics of the T. rex. As paleontologists continue to analyze the spacing and depth of these impressions, we may soon have a much clearer picture of how the tyrant lizard king patrolled its territory during the final stages of the Cretaceous period. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science expects to bring three of these historic footprints into its collection this fall, ensuring that the public can witness this piece of history firsthand.

Key Takeaways

Scientists discovered the first-ever confirmed trackway of an adult T. rex in North Dakota.
The tracks were found in the Hell Creek Formation and date back 66.5 million years.
The discovery includes four connected, human-sized, three-toed footprints.
Unlike isolated prints, this trackway allows researchers to analyze the dinosaur's movement and stride.
The findings represent a significant breakthrough in understanding the biology and behavior of the T. rex.

FAQ

Where were the T. rex footprints found?

The footprints were discovered in the badlands of southwestern North Dakota, within the Hell Creek Formation.

How old are the T. rex tracks?

The tracks date back approximately 66.5 million years to the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Why is this discovery considered rare?

While scientists have found isolated T. rex prints before, this is the first time an entire trackway showing the animal's movement across a landscape has been documented.

Who led the excavation of the trackway?

The discovery was made by a team of paleontologists from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Liverpool John Moores University.