Scientists find first adult T. Rex trackway—Here’s how fast the killer dinosaur moved

The approximately 23-foot-long trackway consists of four three-toed footprints discovered in the Hell Creek Formation of southwestern North Dakota. Each footprint is roughly 3 feet long, and researchers estimate they were made about 66.5 million years ago.

The team identified T. rex as the most likely trackmaker based on the footprints’ exceptional size and narrow shape of the toes, along with the abundance of T. rex fossils found in the surrounding area. While isolated footprints have been attributed to adult T. rex in the past, this is the first time scientists have described a sequence of tracks, or trackway, likely left by this most famous of dinosaurs.

“Bones tell us an enormous amount about these animals, but footprints capture a moment of behavior. With a trackway, we can actually follow an animal as it moved across the landscape. That is incredibly rare for T. rex,” said Tyler Lyson, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

The trackway was found in 2025 on federal land administered by the U.S. Forest Service near Marmarth, North Dakota. The team used high-resolution 3D surface scanning to document each footprint and the full trackway. The resulting digital models allow scientists to examine the tracks in detail and create physical 3D reproductions.

Peter Falkingham, a professor of palaeobiology at Liverpool John Moores University and a dinosaur track expert, was lead author of the study, despite never having seen the tracks in person. “The technology we’re able to apply in the digital age means my colleagues could scan the tracks in the field and then send the 3D information over to me to visualize on my computer and in VR, enabling me to take as close a look as they did in person,” he said.

The trackway records two left and two right footprints, with a stride of approximately 13 feet. Researchers estimate the animal was walking about 3.5 to 4.5 mph, roughly comparable to a brisk human walking pace. Because the tracks are heavily weathered, the speed estimate is approximate.

“As a teacher, I’m always telling my students that science starts with curiosity, passion and careful observation. I never imagined that could lead me to a discovery like this,” said Kent M. Hups, a teacher at Northglenn High School who discovered the site and co-authored the paper.

Three of the footprints are expected to be recovered by helicopter this fall and then transported to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The Museum plans to share updates from the recovery with guests this winter.

Other members of the research team are Museum researchers Evan Tamez-Galvan and Antoine Bercovici. Lyson led the fieldwork and Tamez-Galvan conducted the surface scanning.