Going for a family hike might not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but for three children in North Dakota, their outing led them to discover a juvenile T. rex skeleton, which is now on display at a museum.
Jessin and Liam Fisher, their dad, Sam Fisher, and their cousin, Kaiden Madsen were walking in the North Dakota badlands in 2022 when they discovered the bones. All three children were already fossil enthusiasts who frequently went out looking for them. Coincidentally, Sam Fisher also went to school with Dr Tyler Lyson, the curator of paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, who he contacted to identify the fossils.
The highlighted blue parts show which parts were discovered; the team hopes more could still be found.
Image credit: Scott Harman
The following summer, the children returned to the site to help excavate the juvenile T. rex with Dr Lyson’s team of paleontologists. This process included wrapping the T. rex fossil in plaster and then using a helicopter to move the specimen onto a nearby trailer.
Liam Fisher lies next to the tibia and femur of the T. rex discovery.
Image credit: Sam Fisher
Analysis revealed that the fossil preserves about 30 percent of the skeleton and has a tibia with a length of 82 centimeters (32 inches). An adult T. rex would have a tibia length of around 112 centimeters (44 inches), leading the paleontologists to believe this was a juvenile.
The discovery is all the more impressive since only a few juvenile T. rex skeletons have ever been found. “By going outside and embracing their passions and the thrill of discovery, these boys have made an incredible dinosaur discovery that advances science and deepens our understanding of the natural world,” said Dr Lyson in a statement.
As well as going on display in an experience called “Discovering Teen Rex”, a film about the finding will also be shown at the museum on June 21.
