Two young brothers and their cousin stumbled upon a rare tyrannosaurus rex fossil, as announced Monday by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, ABC News reported.
The discovery occurred during a hike near Marmarth, North Dakota, a known fossil hotspot within the Hell Creek Formation. This area has previously produced some of the most famous T. rex fossils, including Sue at the Field Museum in Chicago and Wyrex at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, according to ABC News.
Kaiden Madsen, 9, and his cousins Liam and Jessin Fisher, aged 7 and 10 at the time, were exploring land owned by the Bureau of Land Management when they spotted something unusual protruding from the ground. Initially mistaking it for a rock or an obscure dinosaur fragment, which Liam called a “chunk-osaurus,” the group was unaware of the significance of their discovery.
Three boys found a T. rex fossil in North Dakota. Now a Denver museum works to fully reveal it https://t.co/9i2EBon0tB
— Fox 18 KLJB (@YourFox18) June 3, 2024
Sam Fisher, the father of the children, took a photo of the bone and shared it with family friend Tyler Lyson, associate curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Initially suspecting it might be from a duckbill dinosaur, Lyson decided to investigate further, the outlet stated. The team unearthed not just any bone, but the lower jaw of a T. rex, complete with several distinct teeth. (RELATED: Paleontologists Discover New Dinosaur Species)
LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS – OCTOBER 17: A general view of the skull, jaw, rib cage and teeth of Trix the female T-Rex exhibition at the Naturalis or Natural History Museum of Leiden on October 17, 2016 in Leiden, Netherlands. The skeleton of Tyrannosaurus rex was excavated in 2013 in Montana, USA, by Naturalis Biodiversity Center.(Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
A documentary crew from Giant Screen Films, narrated by “Jurassic Park” actor Sam Neill, captured the discovery. The crew’s presence enhanced the unveiling of the fossil, named “The Brothers” by the children, ABC News reported. Experts estimate that based on the size of the discovered tibia, the dinosaur was about 13 to 15 years old at the time of its death, weighing approximately 3,500 pounds—considerably smaller than a fully grown adult T. rex. The discovery includes a leg, hip, pelvis, parts of the tail, and a substantial portion of the skull.
The fossil has been transported to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for preparation and display in a special exhibit titled “Discovering Teen Rex.” This exhibit is scheduled to open on June 21, coinciding with the release of the film “T.REX” about the discovery, according to ABC News. The museum plans to make the fossil preparation a public event, allowing visitors to observe as the rock is carefully removed from the bone, a process expected to last about a year.
