In a rare discovery, some pre-teens from the US were able to find the rare remains of an adolescent T-rex in North Dakota.
The discovery was made by brothers Liam and Jessie Fisher, who were seven and ten years of age during the time of the discovery, and their cousin Kaiden Madsen, who was nine years old back then.
US Kids Find Teen T-Rex Remains
The kids came across the discovery as they were walking through the Badlands' Hell Creek formations in July 2022. It was there that they were able to find a huge fossil leg bone.
Young Liam explained during a video call that their dad asked what it was and that Jessin responded, saying that it was a dinosaur.
They then took a picture of the discovery and sent it to Tyler Lyson, a family friend of theirs who was a vertebrate paleontologist from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
When Lyson reached the site eventually, he brushed a tooth and observed the gravity of what the kids were able to uncover. The discovery was an extremely rare adolescent T-rex specimen from 67 million years ago.
The discovery could provide crucial clues regarding the growth and development of these top dinosaurs.
The bones were excavated and kept in huge plaster jackets. A Black Hawk helicopter then lifted them onto a truck. They were then brought to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
The public may soon get to follow the progress made in the preparation of the fossil in a new lab.
This saga has only recently emerged after some renowned scientists and a documentary crew collaborated inconspicuously with natural history museums for almost two years to present the discovery of the kids.
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Teenage T-Rex
According to paleontologists, the teenage T-rex weighed around 1,630 kilograms and was roughly 7.6 meters tall, from its nose down to its tail. It also stood at a height of roughly 10 feet.
The specimen was also thought to be 13 to 15 years of age when it died.
Vertebrate paleontologist Thomas Holtz from the University of Maryland explained that it is incredible to think about how the T-rex could have grown from a hatchling the size of a kitten into an 8,000-pound and 40-foot adult predator.
A documentary regarding the kids' discovery will debut on June 21. It will be shown in around 100 cities in 3D, IMAX, and other forms. David Clark, a co-director, explains that this type of story is what documentary filmmakers dream to capture.
The tyrannosaurus rex is considered one of the world's most ferocious predators to have ever lived. Having sharp teeth, a huge body, and strong jaws, they would have been strong enough to crush cars.
Such carnivores dominated western North America's forested river valleys roughly 68 million years ago in the late Cretaceous period.
RELATED ARTICLE: Smart Dinosaur? T. Rex Had Crocodile-Like Intelligence and Not Ape-Like Brains, Study Claims
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