DENVER — A trio of young fossil hunters have made dinosaur history — and now, they’re getting their own movie! What started as a casual family walk turned into a groundbreaking find that could reshape our understanding of one of history’s most infamous predators — the Tyrannosaurus rex.
On July 31, 2022, brothers Liam and Jessin Fisher, ages seven and 10, along with their nine-year-old cousin, Kaiden Madsen, were exploring the Hell Creek area of North Dakota when they spotted something unusual. To their untrained eyes, it looked like a large leg bone, possibly from a duckbill dinosaur — a common find in the region. Little did they know, their discovery would be far more significant.
The boys sent a photo to Dr. Tyler Lyson, a family friend and Associate Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Dr. Lyson, who himself found his first dinosaur in the same area at age six, recognized the potential importance of the find. Eleven months later, he led an excavation team that included the boys and Jessin’s sister, Emalynn Fisher, now 14. As they began to uncover more of the fossil, Dr. Lyson realized this was no ordinary find. After brushing off a tooth, Dr. Lyson realized the boys found a very rare juvenile specimen of the notorious T. rex.
This wasn’t just any T. rex; it was a teenage T. rex, a discovery that could help scientists fill in crucial gaps in our understanding of how these fearsome predators grew from hatchlings to hulking adults. Fittingly, the researchers are now calling this young predator “Teen Rex.”
Now, you might be wondering, what’s so special about a teenage T. rex? Well, in the world of paleontology, finding juvenile dinosaurs is like striking gold. Most fossils scientists find are from adult animals, as their larger, more robust bones are more likely to survive the fossilization process. Baby and teenage dinosaurs, with their smaller, more fragile bones, are much rarer.
“Juvenile 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,” Dr. Lyson explains in a media release.
It’s like having only adult photos in your family album — you can see what you looked like at 30 or 40, but there’s no record of your awkward teenage years. This “Teen Rex” gives scientists a crucial snapshot of T. rex’s adolescence.
Based on the size of its shin bone (tibia), which measures 82 centimeters compared to an adult T. rex’s 112 cm, scientists estimate this “Teen Rex” was about 13 to 15 years-old when it died around 67 million years ago. That might sound old, but for a T. rex, it was just hitting its growth spurt. At this age, it likely weighed around 3,500 pounds (about as much as a small car) and measured roughly 25 feet from nose to tail — about two-thirds the size of a full-grown adult.
“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,” says Dr. Thomas Holtz, a renowned T. rex expert from the University of Maryland.
Imagine if humans grew from the size of a house cat to the height of a four-story building in just a few years! However, size isn’t the only mystery this “Teen Rex” could solve.
“Scientists can really only speculate on how ‘Teen rex’ might have lived and behaved,” Dr. Holtz continues. “So discoveries like this one have the potential to provide important new information about those earlier life stages, when fastest growth likely occurred.”
Did a teenage T. rex hunt differently than adults? Did they have different diets? Did they hang out in packs, like some modern teenage predators? This fossil could provide clues.
The discovery is particularly thrilling for Jessin Fisher, one of the young fossil hunters. A dinosaur enthusiast and aspiring paleontologist, Jessin even dressed up as his hero, Dr. Lyson, for Halloween a few years ago. Now, he’s part of a historic find with his idol — a dream come true for any young science lover. Dr. Lyson, who was mentored by paleontologists visiting the area when he was a child, sees this as a full-circle moment.
“Helping these kids experience the thrill of their discovery and to be inspired by science is incredibly rewarding to me personally,” Lyson says.
It’s a powerful reminder that science isn’t just for adults in lab coats — anyone, even a seven-year-old on a family walk, can make a groundbreaking discovery.
This incredible story isn’t just staying in the lab. A film crew from Giant Screen Films was on site, capturing every moment in stunning 8K resolution. Their documentary, “T. REX,” narrated by “Jurassic Park” star Sir Sam Neill, will bring this adventure to the world’s largest screens. Audiences will witness the eureka moment when Dr. Lyson confirmed the boys had found a Tyrant King, and see cutting-edge animations that bring the T. rex, from hatchling to hulking adult, to life. The film premieres June 21 in Denver and later in 100 cities worldwide.
“This is a chance for families to experience the thrill of discovery through the eyes of these young explorers in a format that makes you feel like you’re right there with them,” says the film’s co-director, David Clark.
“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,” adds producer Andy Wood.
“That’s a really important message that we want to come through—one that I think is just baked into this story,” Dr. Lyson concludes, hoping this story encourages more kids to explore the outdoors.
So, the next time you’re out for a walk, keep your eyes open. You might just stumble upon a piece of history, waiting 67 million years for you to find it.
StudyFinds Editor Chris Melore contributed to this report.