Adult T. rex trackway reveals walking speed comparable to brisk human pace

In the Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota, a steep incline yielded four consecutive footprints that researchers identify as belonging to an adult Tyrannosaurus rex. Discovered by Kent Hups, a high-school teacher and amateur paleontologist, the prints measure about 80 centimetres across and together span roughly seven metres. By analysing stride length and estimated body size, scientists calculated the dinosaur’s speed at approximately 1.6 metres per second, akin to a brisk human walk.

Peter Falkingham of Liverpool John Moores University emphasized that a continuous trackway reveals foot placement and gait patterns that single prints cannot. The findings were published on September 8 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Although the impressions are not perfectly preserved, the research provides valuable data on how adult T. rex may have moved, and the team hopes further erosion will expose additional steps.