Tyrannosaurus Trackway: T. rex Footprints
You're looking at the first adult T. rex trackway ever discovered. Or at least it might be. Ichnofossils generally are not linked to a specific species, but in this case they possibly could be from the giant, meat eating, theropod – Tyrannosaurus rex.
Trevor Schulz
9/9/20261 min read
Publication Info:
Transcript:
Peter L. Falkingham et al, A large tridactyl trackway from the Upper Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota, likely attributable to an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (2026). DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2026.2706201
You're looking at the first adult T. rex trackway ever discovered. Or at least it might be. Ichnofossils generally are not linked to a specific species, but in this case they possibly could be from the giant, meat eating, theropod – Tyrannosaurus rex.
Episode 340
Notes:
You're looking at the first adult T. rex trackway ever discovered. So, I know a lot of the time we talk about trackways, ichnofossils in general. So, like trackways, skin impressions, coprolites, regurgitalites, everything like that aren't usually attributable to a specific species. And that's true. But, if you're finding fossils somewhere that is known for having one extremely large theropod with nothing else really near that size, and you find giant theropod tracks, sometimes you can make assumptions. Just for accuracy, they say that it's consistent with and probably attributable to an adult T-Rex, which is both fair and accurate. And this trackway is incredible. It's not just a single print, which individual prints have been attributed to most likely be T. rex before. This is an actual 23-ft trackway with four tridactyl prints from the Hell Creek Formation, which is world-famous for its T. rex specimens. And the individual prints are 3-ft long. Researchers analyzed this trackway and were even able to determine roughly the speed this animal was walking. This T. rex was somewhat leisurely walking at 3 and 1/2 to 4 and 1/2 mph. I know, it doesn't sound that fast until you remember that the average person only runs 5 to 6 mph. And I'm sure there's some athlete out there thinking, "Hey, there's no way people run that slow." Well, you're an athlete. The average person doesn't run. That said, they probably would if they were being chased by T. rex. As usual, if you want more information, here's the source.