Children Find Dinosaur 'Teen-Rex' Fossil in North Dakota
2024-06-12
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1Two brothers, Liam and Jessin Fisher, were hiking in North Dakota with their father and cousin, Kaiden Madsen, during the summer of 2022.
2They were looking for dinosaur fossils.
3And they found one.
4Liam and his father, Sam, noticed a large leg bone sticking out of the ground.
5They shouted to the others to come and look.
6"They came running," said Liam, who is now nine years old.
7"And dad asked, 'What is this?' And Jessin said, 'That's a dinosaur.'"
8Two years later, experts removed the fossils from the ground and the remains of a young Tyrannosaurus rex are now at a museum in Colorado where people can see them.
9The dinosaur is being called "Teen Rex" because it was not yet an adult when it died.
10The Denver Museum of Nature and Science announced the find in early June.
11The fossil will be displayed and studied for years to come.
12Jessin is now 12. When he saw the leg bone, he was sure it was a dinosaur, but he did not know what kind it was.
13His father, Sam, contacted a childhood friend, Tyler Lyson, a scientist who studies dinosaurs and works at the museum in Denver.
14He sent a photo and Lyson started working on the permissions required to do an excavation.
15Last year, everyone went back to the place to start working.
16At first, the group thought the bone belonged to a smaller plant-eating dinosaur.
17But later that day, Lyson said he and Jessin found the lower jaw and some large T. rex teeth.
18"It still gives me goosebumps," Lyson said.
19"I was completely, like, speechless," said Kaiden, who is now 11.
20Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs.
21Scientists say it lived in what is now North America about 67 million years ago.
22All dinosaurs disappeared about 66 million years ago.
23The scientists say the young T. rex was 13 to 15 years old.
24These dinosaurs are considered fully grown starting at 18 years.
25The "Teen Rex" was about 7.6 meters long, about two-thirds the size of an adult.
26One fossil, named Sue, which is displayed at the Field Museum in Chicago is 12.3 meters.
27Lyson said the Denver display will not be as big as the display in Chicago because much of it is still contained in a large piece of rock.
28He said they have a hip bone, the skull and a number of vertebrae, which are back bones.
29The fossil was found in a piece of soft stone, called sandstone.
30This leads the scientists to believe the dinosaur got stuck on a sandy area in the middle of a river.
31Lyson said scientists are interested in finding ways that younger T. rexes were different from older ones.
32They were faster and had smaller heads.
33Because of this, the scientists think the young dinosaurs had a different diet than the older ones.
34There are very few young Tyrannosaurus fossils available.
35A younger one is at the Burpee Museum in Rockford, Illinois.
36Lyson said the new discovery should help dinosaur researchers understand another theory.
37A small number of scientists believe a dinosaur, called Nanotyrannus, was related to T. rex and lived at the same time.
38A movie about the discovery with scientists from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is expected to be released on June 21.
39I'm Dan Friedell.
1Two brothers, Liam and Jessin Fisher, were hiking in North Dakota with their father and cousin, Kaiden Madsen, during the summer of 2022. 2They were looking for dinosaur fossils. 3And they found one. 4Liam and his father, Sam, noticed a large leg bone sticking out of the ground. 5They shouted to the others to come and look. 6"They came running," said Liam, who is now nine years old. "And dad asked, 'What is this?' And Jessin said, 'That's a dinosaur.'" 7Two years later, experts removed the fossils from the ground and the remains of a young Tyrannosaurus rex are now at a museum in Colorado where people can see them. 8The dinosaur is being called "Teen Rex" because it was not yet an adult when it died. 9The Denver Museum of Nature and Science announced the find in early June. The fossil will be displayed and studied for years to come. 10Jessin is now 12. When he saw the leg bone, he was sure it was a dinosaur, but he did not know what kind it was. 11His father, Sam, contacted a childhood friend, Tyler Lyson, a scientist who studies dinosaurs and works at the museum in Denver. He sent a photo and Lyson started working on the permissions required to do an excavation. Last year, everyone went back to the place to start working. 12At first, the group thought the bone belonged to a smaller plant-eating dinosaur. But later that day, Lyson said he and Jessin found the lower jaw and some large T. rex teeth. 13"It still gives me goosebumps," Lyson said. 14"I was completely, like, speechless," said Kaiden, who is now 11. 15Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs. Scientists say it lived in what is now North America about 67 million years ago. All dinosaurs disappeared about 66 million years ago. 16The scientists say the young T. rex was 13 to 15 years old. These dinosaurs are considered fully grown starting at 18 years. The "Teen Rex" was about 7.6 meters long, about two-thirds the size of an adult. One fossil, named Sue, which is displayed at the Field Museum in Chicago is 12.3 meters. 17Lyson said the Denver display will not be as big as the display in Chicago because much of it is still contained in a large piece of rock. He said they have a hip bone, the skull and a number of vertebrae, which are back bones. 18The fossil was found in a piece of soft stone, called sandstone. This leads the scientists to believe the dinosaur got stuck on a sandy area in the middle of a river. 19Lyson said scientists are interested in finding ways that younger T. rexes were different from older ones. They were faster and had smaller heads. Because of this, the scientists think the young dinosaurs had a different diet than the older ones. 20There are very few young Tyrannosaurus fossils available. A younger one is at the Burpee Museum in Rockford, Illinois. 21Lyson said the new discovery should help dinosaur researchers understand another theory. A small number of scientists believe a dinosaur, called Nanotyrannus, was related to T. rex and lived at the same time. 22A movie about the discovery with scientists from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is expected to be released on June 21. 23I'm Dan Friedell. 24Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by Reuters. 25_______________________________________________ 26Words in This Story 27hike -v. to walk or a long distance in a natural area 28cousin -n. the children of the brother or sister of a person's father 29fossil -n. the remains of a living thing that have turned into rock below the ground over a very long amount of time 30display -v. to show especially in an exhibit for the public 31excavation -n. a big digging operation involving heavy equipment or organized effort 32goosebumps -n. (pl.) small bumps that form on the skin when people are excited or fearful 33We want to hear from you. What do you think about what the children found?