科学家在美国北达科他州西南部的地狱溪地层发现了已知首批成年霸王龙足迹1。这一系列足迹包含四个三趾足印——2个左脚和2个右脚印迹，每个足迹长约3英尺（0.91米），步幅约13英尺（3.96米），距今约6650万年1。该发现由丹佛自然科学博物馆和利物浦约翰摩尔斯大学的研究人员完成，已发表在科学期刊上1。
根据足迹间距的分析，研究人员推算该霸王龙的行走速度约为每小时3.5至4.5英里1。这只恐龙身高12至13英尺，生活于白垩纪距今66至68百万年前1。该遗址由学校教师肯特·胡普斯发现，他也成为该论文的共同作者1。三个足迹将于今年晚些时候由直升机运往丹佛博物馆1。
Scientists have identified the first known footprints of an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, a discovery that provides direct evidence of the dinosaur walking across an ancient landscape.1 The trackway, located in the Hell Creek Formation of southwestern North Dakota, consists of four three-toed impressions—two left feet and two right feet—each approximately 3 feet (0.91 meters) in length.1 The footprints date back 66.5 million years to the Late Cretaceous period, when T. rex lived between 66 and 68 million years ago.1
Researchers from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Liverpool John Moores University conducted the analysis, with school teacher Kent Hoopes discovering the site and becoming a co-author of the published study.1 The stride length between successive prints measures roughly 13 feet (3.96 meters), which researchers used to estimate the animal's walking speed at approximately 3.5 to 4.5 miles per hour.1 The T. rex that made these impressions stood between 12 and 13 feet tall.1 Three of the footprints will be transported to the Denver Museum by helicopter later this year.1
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