The adult Tyrannosaurus Rex was one of the most fierce prehistoric predators, but little is known about how this enormous dino grew up.
But that all may soon change thanks to three kids’ discovery of a teenage T. rex in the Hell Creek badlands of North Dakota.
The extremely rare juvenile T-rex fossil was found by brothers Liam and Jessin Fisher, 7 and 10 years old at the time, and their 9-year-old cousin, Kaiden Madsen.
While it might sound like the plot of an 80s summer blockbuster, this discovery could change how scientists understand the early years of this iconic dinosaur.
Dr Tyler Lyson, Associate Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, says: ‘This find is significant to researchers because the ‘Teen Rex’ specimen may help answer questions about how the king of dinosaurs grew up.’
The three boys were walking in the Hell Creek formation when they noticed what appeared to be a large white fossilised bone in the ground. In this picture, Liam Fisher lies down next to an exposed portion of the fossil
T-Rex may have been the King of the dinosaurs, but little is known about how this iconic predator grew up
The boys were walking in the Hell Creek Formation on July 31, 2022, when they noticed what appeared to be a large fossilised leg bone emerging from the ground.
They then sent some pictures to Dr Lyson, a family friend and palaeontologist, who believed they had found a more common duckbill dinosaur.
However, when Dr Lyson came to investigate further it soon became clear that they had found something far rarer.
Jessin says: ‘I was brushing the sediment with Tyler, seeing if we could find anything.
‘Tyler heard a thud with his screwdriver, and he quickly swept away where he was digging.
‘He broke off this tooth and picked it up and we shared the same look at the same time staring at each other and from that moment we knew it was a T. rex.’
The specimen was then excavated over 11 days before being secured in plaster casts and airlifted to a truck by a Black Hawk Helicopter.
The fossil remains are now at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, where the public will be able to follow the fossil’s preparation in the new ‘Discovering Teen Rex Prep Lab.’
Based on the size of the fossil, researchers estimate that this T-Rex might have weighed around half as much as an adult. Here, a team of researchers work to excavate the fossilised remains from the soft sandstone
Liam Fisher (left), Kaiden Madsen (middle), and Jessin Fisher (right) discovered an extremely rare teenage T-rex fossil in the Hell Creek badlands of North Dakota
The discovery and excavation will be the subject of a new documentary titled ‘T.REX’ voiced by Sam Neil who starred as palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (pictured)
The boys’ discovery and the following excavation were recorded by a documentary crew and have now been made into a movie titled, T.REX.
The documentary crew followed the research efforts for over two years as scientists worked to understand more about the early days of the T-Rex’s life.
The documentary will be narrated by Sam Neil, who starred as palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant in the 1993 blockbuster ‘Jurassic Park’.
Producer and writer Andy Wood says: ‘We never could have planned the inspiring story that unfolded in front of the cameras.’
‘Kids finding any large dinosaur is remarkable, but as the shoot progressed, the team realized that we were witnessing something even more rare – a truly historic T. rex discovery.’
The boys sent pictures of their find to Dr Tyler Lyson (pictured left), of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, who helped investigate the fossil
The specimen is believed to be a 12 to 15-year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex (artists’ impression pictured). This would have been the time of the T-Rex’s life when it was growing fastest
T. REX will premiere at select theatres worldwide beginning June 21, opening in 100 cities over the coming months in all immersive museum cinema formats, including large format, IMAX, 3D, and giant dome.
However, the discovery is also also important for palaeontologists trying to understand more about how the T-Rex grew to be the giant predator we would recognise from Jurassic Park.
Based on the length of the specimen’s shin bone it is estimated that this T. rex would have been around 13 to 15 years old when it died around 67 million years ago.
Even as a juvenile, this terrifying dinosaur would still have been huge and likely weighed 1,632 kg (3,500 lbs), measured 25ft (7.6m) from nose to tail and stood at 10ft (3m) tall.
And, just like many human teenagers, Dr Lyson says this would have been right at the point at which the T. rex would have been growing fastest.
The Hell Creek Formation is one of the world’s best places to find dinosaur fossils, but even here T. rex specimens are very rare and juvenile specimens even rarer
Previous studies have shown that the fearsome species may have reached its colossal size through vast growth spurts in its teenage years – pilling on more than three stone a week.
However, that rapid growth required vast amounts of calories, meaning that young T. rex would need to have been a highly successful hunter.
Studies of the few other available specimens suggest that before its rapid growth, Teen-Rex would have been a fleet-footed predator rather than a lumbering giant.
The ‘Teen-rex’ is also believed to have used knife-like teeth to cut through meat rather than crush bones like an adult.
Even still, researchers estimate that a juvenile T-rex would have been able to bite with a force of 1,320 lbs – that’s 200 lbs more than a modern hyena.
Over 11 days, the fossil was excavated by a team of volunteers before being transported by Black Hawk helicopter to a truck for transportation
Scientists say that this discovery could help us understand how the T-Rex grew up and how it became the giant, iconic predator many of us would recognise
T. rex specimens are already rare compared to more abundant prey species like the Triceratops.
Dr Lyson explains: ‘When you’re in a National park, you see deer and elk and moose, but you don’t see the mountain lions or the wolves.
‘You don’t see those apex predators because there just aren’t as many of them.’
Young specimens are even rarer, which makes the boys’ discovery an important opportunity for researchers to learn more about how the T-rex developed.
Dr Thomas Holtz, a vertebrate palaeontologist from the University of Maryland, says: ‘It’s remarkable to consider how T. rex might have grown from a kitten-sized hatchling into the 40-foot, 8,000-pound adult predator we are familiar with.
‘Scientists can really only speculate on how ‘Teen rex’ might have lived and behaved.
‘So discoveries like this one have the potential to provide important new information about those earlier life stages.’
