By: Jingwei Zhao
Two years ago, on July 31st, 2022, a group of three children went fossil-hunting in the Hell Creek Formation at the North Dakota Badlands. The group included ten-year-old Jessin Fisher, his seven-year-old brother Liam, and his nine-year-old cousin Kaiden Madsen. The place is filled with many dinosaur bones, so the small party was hoping to find some fossils. However, they had no clue that they would uncover one of the only teenage Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils ever found.
The first sign of the fossil appeared when Liam and his dad, Sam Fisher, saw a large, gray-white bone poking out of the ground. Liam told the Washington Post, “My dad hollered for Jessin and Kaiden to come, and they came running up on the butte. Dad asked, ‘What is this?’ and Jessin said, ‘That’s a dinosaur.’”
After the discovery, Sam sent a photo of the fossil to paleontologist Dr. Tyler Lyson at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Once Dr. Lyson confirmed that the bone was from a dinosaur, and received the necessary permits in 2023, he set up an excavation team, which included the three kids.
Dr. Lyson originally thought that the bone was from a duckbill dinosaur, which is a more common species. However, once he arrived at the site, Dr. Lyson and Jessin found a T. rex tooth. Upon a close look, they found three more teeth that were attached to a jaw. “Instead of finding cervical vertebrae, we found the lower jaw with several teeth sticking out of it. And it doesn’t get any more diagnostic than that, seeing these giant tyrannosaurus teeth staring back at you,” told Dr. Lyson to the Associated Press.
The bones were trapped in a giant 6,000 pound, eight-foot-wide, block of sandstone. It took 11 whole days to excavate the site, but it was worth it. Though the skeleton was incomplete, it was still well preserved. The team identified the dinosaur’s hips, tail vertebrae, most of its skull, lower legs, and pelvis.
Researchers estimate that the dinosaur was between 13 to 15 years old and died 67 million years ago. It was likely 25 feet long and 10 feet tall and weighed about 3,500 pounds.
Dr. Lyson said, “Juvenile [T.] rex specimens are extremely rare. This find is significant to researchers because the ‘Teen Rex’ specimen may help answer questions about how the king of dinosaurs grew up.”
The group of kids named the fossil “The Brothers,” and it went on display at the Denver Museum two weeks ago, on June 21st. The exhibit is named “Discovering Teen Rex.” There is also a short documentary describing the fossil’s discovery.