Three young Americans with a passion for fossils have something to amaze their classmates after discovering the remains of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex in North Dakota. A documentary on this discovery will be released on June 21.
In this image provided by Giant Screen Films, Liam Fisher, Kaiden Madsen and Jessin Fisher pose for a celebratory photo on the day their fossil discovery was determined to be a juvenile T. rex, in North Dakota. A team of documentarians captured the moment of discovery for the film “T.REX”. (David Clark/Giant Screen Films via AP)
In a scene from the documentary “T.REX,” vertebrate paleontologist Tyler Lyson, Natalie Toth and the expedition team begin to discover a juvenile T. rex in the Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota. (Andy Wood/Giant Screen Films via AP)
In this photo provided by Giant Screen Films, lead preparator Natalie Toth, left, of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, examines fossilized plants from the Cretaceous period in a moment captured by the documentary crew ” T.REX,” at a fossil dig site in North Dakota called “The Brothers.” (Andy Wood/Giant Screen Films via AP)
This image provided by Giant Screen Films from the film “T.REX” shows a mother T. rex and her young (Courtesy of Giant Screen Films via AP).
In this image provided by Giant Screen Films, Liam Fisher, Kaiden Madsen and Jessin Fisher pose for a celebratory photo on the day their fossil discovery was determined to be a juvenile T. rex, in North Dakota. A team of documentarians captured the moment of discovery for the film “T.REX”. (David Clark/Giant Screen Films via AP)
In a scene from the documentary “T.REX,” vertebrate paleontologist Tyler Lyson, Natalie Toth and the expedition team begin to discover a juvenile T. rex in the Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota. (Andy Wood/Giant Screen Films via AP)
In this photo provided by Giant Screen Films, lead preparator Natalie Toth, left, of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, examines fossilized plants from the Cretaceous period in a moment captured by the documentary crew ” T.REX,” at a fossil dig site in North Dakota called “The Brothers.” (Andy Wood/Giant Screen Films via AP)
This image provided by Giant Screen Films from the film “T.REX” shows a mother T. rex and her young (Courtesy of Giant Screen Films via AP).
Scientists and directors announced to the press on Tuesday the extremely rare discovery made by the three boys in July 2022 in the Hell Creek formation, a region known to dinosaur hunters in the northern United States.
Two brothers, aged 10 and 7, and their 9-year-old cousin were looking for fossils when they came across an imposing fossilized bone. They took a photo and sent it to a family friend who happened to be a curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Dr. Tyler Lyson.
Initially, the children believed they were dealing with a relatively more common duck-billed dinosaur remnant. But during excavations of the site, Dr. Lyson and his team of specialists and volunteers, including the discoverers of the bone in question, realized that it was the remains of an adolescent tyrannosaurus that died years ago. approximately 67 million years ago.
“Juvenile T-Rex specimens are extremely rare,” emphasizes Dr. Lyson in a press release. “This discovery is important for researchers because the specimen could provide answers about the growth of the king of the dinosaurs.”
The tibia found measures 82 cm long while that of an adult reaches an average of 112 cm, which suggests that the T-Rex was between 13 and 15 years old when it died. It probably weighed 1.6 tonnes, was 7.6 m long and 3 m high.
“It is remarkable to consider how the T-Rex went from the size of a kitten to the 12-meter, 3.6-ton adult predator we know,” Thomas Holtz, a paleontologist at the University of Maryland and recognized authority on T-Rex matters.
A documentary produced by Giant Screen Films on this discovery will be released in around a hundred theaters around the world on June 21. “It’s the kind of story that documentary filmmakers dream of making,” said co-director David Clark.
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