Хойд Дакотагийн нутгаас олдсон 66.5 сая жилийн настай мөрний дараалал нь Тираннозавр үлэг гүрвэлийн хөдөлгөөний хурд болон зан төлөвийг судлах шинэ боломжийг палеонтологчдод нээж өглөө.
АНУ-ын Хойд Дакота мужийн Мармарт орчмоос 2025 онд олдсон энэхүү мөрний дараалал нь 7 метр орчим үргэлжлэх бөгөөд 0.9 метр урттай дөрвөн гурван салаа мөрөөс бүрдэж байна. Мөр хоорондын алхам 4 метр орчим байгаа нь Тираннозавр цагт 5.6–7.2 км хурдтай буюу хүний түргэн алхаатай ижил хурдтайгаар явж байсныг илтгэж байна. Denver Museum of Nature & Science болон Liverpool John Moores University-ийн эрдэмтдийн Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology сэтгүүлд нийтэлсэн судалгаагаар, энэ нь уг төрлийн үлэг гүрвэлийн бүрэн дараалал бүхий мөр олдсон анхны тохиолдол юм.
Энэхүү олдворыг ахлах сургуулийн багш Кэнт М. Хупс олж илрүүлсэн бөгөөд хожим судалгааны багтай хамтран ажиллажээ. Судлаачид мөрний хэмжээ, хурууны хэлбэр болон тухайн бүс нутагт олдсон Тираннозаврын олон тооны чулуужсан яс зэргийг үндэслэн энэхүү мөрийг уг төрөлд хамааруулсан байна. Гэсэн хэдий ч мөрний гадаргуу ихээр элэгдсэн тул хурдыг нарийн бус, харин ойролцоогоор тооцоолсон гэж үзэж байгаа юм.
Судалгааны баг өндөр нарийвчлалтай 3D сканнер ашиглан олдворыг дижитал хэлбэрт шилжүүлж, алсаас нарийвчлан шинжлэх боломжийг бүрдүүлжээ. Энэхүү технологи нь талбайн судалгаанд биечлэн оролцоогүй мэргэжилтнүүдэд виртуал орчинд мөрний бүтцийг судлах боломж олгосон байна. Denver Museum of Nature & Science-ийн мэдээлснээр, олдсон дөрвөн мөрний гурвыг нь энэ намар нисдэг тэргээр зөөвөрлөн музейд авчирч, цаашдын судалгаанд ашиглахаар төлөвлөж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
A 66.5-million-year-old sequence of four footprints discovered in North Dakota has given paleontologists something they have never had before. They found trackway made by an adult Tyrannosaurus rex. The tracks, found in the Hell Creek Formation, allowed researchers to estimate that the animal was walking at roughly 3.5 to 4.5 mph, a pace comparable to a brisk human stride.
The discovery, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, was made by a team from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Liverpool John Moores University in England. While isolated footprints have previously been attributed to adult T. rex, this marks the first time researchers have described an actual sequence of tracks left by the species.
Skeletal remains, however complete, can only say so much about how an animal actually behaved when it was alive. A trackway, by contrast, captures a moving animal in real time, letting scientists reconstruct a fleeting moment from millions of years ago rather than infer it indirectly from bone structure.
A Rare Sequence of Footprints
The trackway stretches about 23 feet (7 meters) and consists of four three-toed footprints, each measuring roughly 3 feet (0.9 meters) long. It records two left and two right prints, with a stride of approximately 13 feet (4 meters) between them. The site was found in 2025 on federal land managed by the U.S. Forest Service near Marmarth, North Dakota.
Researchers point to the footprints’ exceptional size and narrow toe shape, combined with the abundance of T. rex fossils already documented in the surrounding area, as the basis for attributing the tracks to the species.
No other animal known from the formation matches that particular combination of scale and foot morphology. Still, because the prints are heavily weathered, the resulting speed estimate is described as approximate rather than precise.
“Bones tell us an enormous amount about these animals, but footprints capture a moment of behavior,” said Tyler Lyson, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, who led the fieldwork. “With a trackway, we can actually follow an animal as it moved across the landscape. That is incredibly rare for T. rex.”
Digital Tools Made Remote Analysis Possible
To document the find, the team relied on high-resolution 3D surface scanning, capturing each footprint and the trackway as a whole. Evan Tamez-Galvan, a museum researcher, conducted the scanning in the field, generating digital models detailed enough to be examined closely and, eventually, reproduced physically.
That digital record proved essential to the study’s authorship. Peter Falkingham, a professor of paleobiology at Liverpool John Moores University and a specialist in dinosaur tracks, served as lead author despite never visiting the site in person.
“The technology we’re able to apply in the digital age means my colleagues could scan the tracks in the field and then send the 3D information over to me to visualize on my computer and in VR, enabling me to take as close a look as they did in person,” he said.
From the Field to the Museum Floor
The story behind the discovery also has an unusual origin, one that stands apart from the usual image of academic paleontology teams combing the badlands for fossils. It was found not by a professional excavator but by Kent M. Hups, a science teacher at Northglenn High School, whose careful eye for the landscape led him to the site, and who went on to co-author the resulting paper alongside the museum’s research team.
“As a teacher, I’m always telling my students that science starts with curiosity, passion and careful observation,” Hups said. “I never imagined that could lead me to a discovery like this.”
Three of the four footprints are expected to be recovered by helicopter this fall and transported to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, according to the museum.
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