Discovery of Teenage T. Rex Fossil by Young Boys in North Dakota and Denver Museum's Efforts to Unveil It
In July 2022, brothers Liam and Jessin Fisher, aged 7 and 10, and their 9-year-old cousin, Kaiden Madsen, discovered a rare juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex fossil in the Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota. The find was made on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management near Marmarth.
The boys announced their discovery on June 3, 2024, during a Zoom news conference, held by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, which has been working on the specimen. The fossil’s preparation will be showcased in a public exhibit called Discovering Teen Rex, starting June 21, to coincide with the release of the documentary "T.REX," narrated by actor Sam Neill.
Dr. Tyler Lyson, an associate curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, confirmed the significance of the find. Initial evaluations mistook the fossil for a duckbill dinosaur, but further excavation revealed a jaw with discernible T. rex teeth.
The juvenile dinosaur, believed to be 13 to 15 years old at the time of death, measured approximately 25 feet in length, 10 feet in height, and weighed around 3,500 pounds. The fossil includes parts of the leg, hip, pelvis, tailbones, and a chunk of the skull.
The discovery and subsequent excavation were documented over two years and involved airlifting the plaster-encased fossil via Black Hawk helicopter to the museum. The complete preparation for public viewing is expected to take about a year.