Four fossilized footprints uncovered in 2025 near Marmarth, North Dakota, have been identified as the first known trackway belonging to an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, according to theguardian.com.
The sequence of four giant three-toed prints is roughly 66.5 million years old, theguardian.com reports. The tracks record a stride of about 13 feet, indicating the animal was moving at a walking pace of roughly 3.5 to 4.5 miles per hour.
The discovery was made by a high school teacher, according to IFLScience, which described the find as the world's first adult T. rex trackway. National Geographic reported on how the fossil hunter came across the trail.
The trackway's age places it in the Late Cretaceous, the final period before the extinction event that ended the dinosaurs. Fossilized bones of T. rex are known from several specimens, but preserved footprints — especially a connected walking sequence from an adult — are far rarer, which is why researchers have treated this find as significant.
The walking speed estimate comes from the spacing and length of the strides rather than from the animal's skeleton, giving scientists a direct record of how an adult T. rex moved across the ground.
Researchers are expected to continue studying the site and the surrounding rock layers. Further analysis of the prints could clarify how the animal's gait compares with other large theropod trackways.
