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<\/p>\nA schoolteacher has stumbled across what’s thought to be the world’s first set of T-Rex footprints.<\/p>\n
The four massive three-toed prints, more than 66 million years old, were found in North Dakota after the teacher came across them on a hike.<\/p>\n
Each footprint measures roughly 3.3 feet long, with the trail stretching across 23 feet of ground.<\/p>\n
Scientists who have analysed the prints now think they date back approximately 66.5 million years.<\/p>\n
The tracks were identified in the Hells Creek Formation, a well-known dinosaur fossil site.<\/p>\n
Researchers from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and Liverpool John Moores University carried out the work.<\/p>\n
Their findings have only now been made public.<\/p>\n
Although individual footprints and tracks from young T-Rex specimens have been discovered previously, this is the first time a continuous trail from an adult has been found.<\/p>\n
Colorado schoolteacher Kent Hups, who co-authored the research paper, was stunned by his discovery.<\/p>\n
PICTURED: Palaeontologist Tyler Lyson poses with one of the hulking prints<\/p>\n
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION<\/p>\n
He said: “As a teacher, I’m always telling my students that science starts with curiosity, passion and careful observation.<\/p>\n
“I never imagined that could lead me to a discovery like this.”<\/p>\n
Tyler Lyson, a senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, said: “With a trackway, we can actually follow an animal as it moved across the landscape.<\/p>\n
“That is incredibly rare for T rex.<\/p>\n
“Bones tell us an enormous amount about these animals, but footprints capture a moment of behaviour.”<\/p>\n
DINOSAUR DISCOVERIES – READ MORE:<\/p>\n
![\"T-Rex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/t-rex-footprint.png\")
Three of the four prints will be airlifted by helicopter later this year and taken to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science<\/p>\n
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DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE<\/p>\n
The ancient imprints were preserved when sandstone solidified around the depressions, turning them into fossils.<\/p>\n
Three of the four prints will be airlifted by helicopter later this year and taken to the Denver museum.<\/p>\n
T-Rex remains in the surrounding area bolstered the team’s conclusion that the tracks belonged to the species.<\/p>\n
The T-Rex, widely regarded as the most iconic dinosaur, roamed the Earth during the Cretaceous period between 66 and 68 million years ago.<\/p>\n
Standing 12 to 13 feet tall, it was one of the last non-avian dinosaurs alive before a catastrophic mass extinction event brought their reign to an end.<\/p>\n
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GETTY<\/p>\n