Teacher Stumbles Upon First-Ever Adult T. Rex Trackway in North Dakota

A Colorado high school teacher searching for fossils in North Dakota made an astonishing discovery that may have captured the movements of one of the world’s most famous predators 66.5 million years ago.

Kent Hups was volunteering on a paleontological dig in the Hell Creek Formation in southwestern North Dakota in 2025 when he spotted what appeared to be a giant Tyrannosaurus rex footprint.

At first, even the scientists working alongside him weren’t completely convinced.

But the team returned to the site the following day — and what they found transformed the discovery.

Hups hadn’t uncovered just one footprint.

They identified four enormous three-toed tracks, positioned in sequence across the ancient ground.

The discovery represents what researchers describe as the first known trackway made by an adult T. rex.

Unlike fossilized bones, footprints can reveal something bones cannot: how an animal actually moved through its environment.

The tracks provide a rare snapshot of a T. rex in motion, preserving evidence of where the enormous predator placed its feet millions of years ago.

The discovery was made during a dig led by Tyler Lyson, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

For Hups, who teaches at Northglenn High School, the find was an extraordinary reminder of the importance of simply paying attention.

“As a teacher, I’m always telling my students that science starts with curiosity, passion and careful observation,” he said.

He never expected those lessons to lead to something quite like this.

But one careful glance at the ground may have revealed a trail left behind by a T. rex that walked across North Dakota 66.5 million years ago.