Three young boys stumbled upon an amazing discovery in the North Dakota Badlands: an adolescent tyrannosaurus rex fossil. Now, the fossil will be studied, displayed and featured in an upcoming documentary at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on June 21. The museum made the announcement on Tuesday, June 4, in a press release.
The boys, Jessin and Liam Fisher and their cousin Kaiden Madsen, along with their father Sam Fisher, were on a hike in North Dakota in July of 2022, when they made the discovery. After stumbling upon the remains, Sam Fisher contacted his friend, Tyler Lyson, the curator of paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Following excavation of the fossil, paleontologists determined that the T. rex was a juvenile after analyzing its bone structure and by using other methods as well. After analyzing the bones, the scientists determined the adolescent must have weighed about 3,500 pounds at the time of its death, stood 10 feet tall and had a total length of 25 feet.
A full-grown adult T. rex is believed to have reached lengths of up to 40 feet and could weigh up to 8,000 pounds, according to researchers.
The museum said that most T. rex skeletons are from older, larger specimens, making the discovery of the fossil, now dubbed “Teen Rex,” rare. Paleontologists said that the rarity of this fossil will allow them to learn about the growth and development of the species during a “crucial” stage of its life. The findings could also lend insight into the life of the prehistoric reptiles.
