High school teacher discovers first reported T. rex trackway dating back 66.5 million years

Image: ABC News/ Kent Hups A high school science teacher exploring a fossil-rich region of North Dakota made a discovery that could change what scientists know about how adult Tyrannosaurus rex moved. In 2025, Kent Hups spotted unusual impressions while volunteering on a fossil dig in the Hell Creek Formation. What initially appeared to be a possible dinosaur footprint led researchers to identify a sequence of four giant, three-toed tracks stretching approximately 23 feet. The findings, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on September 8, 2026, describe the first reported trackway likely attributable to an adult T. rex. Dating back approximately 66.5 million years, the footprints offer a rare glimpse into the movement of one of the most recognisable predators of the Cretaceous period.How a high school discovered four giant footprintsKent Hups was exploring the Hell Creek Formation in southwestern North Dakota when he noticed an unusual shape emerging from the ground. He had been searching for fossils and geological features, rather than specifically targeting T. rex footprints. According to reports, Hups was volunteering on a fossil dig led by palaeontologist Tyler L...