Nicknamed "Teen Rex"

Children discover bones of young Tyrannosaurus

From left to right: Liam Fisher, Kaiden Madsen and Jessin Fisher discovered the fossilized bones of a young Tyrannosaurus rex during a hike.(Bild: AP/David Clark/Giant Screen Films)

During a family outing in the USA, three children (pictured above) accidentally found the remains of a young Tyrannosaurus rex. The fossil skeleton - christened "Teen Rex" - can now be admired in an exhibition, according to the Museum of Nature and Science in Denver.

The brothers Liam and Jessin were reportedly seven and ten years old, their cousin Kaiden nine, when they came across a large fossilized leg bone during a family hike in Badlands National Park in the US state of North Dakota in July 2022. They then contacted Tyler Lyson, an old friend of their father's who works as a paleontologist at the museum in Denver, with photos.

Together with colleagues, the researcher excavated the remains, supported by the boys' family and accompanied by a film crew last year. Until then, the young T. rex had been lying in this place for around 67 million years, as it was reported. The bones were transported by helicopter to the museum in the US state of Colorado, where they will be on display from June 21.

Artist's impression: A T. rex with young animals(Bild: AP/Giant Screen Films)

A third of the skeleton found
About a third of the entire skeleton of the young T. rex has been found, it was reported. "The find is particularly exciting because a majority of Tyrannosarus rex fossils discovered to date are from adult animals," explained Lyson - who himself had discovered dinosaur fossils in the same area as a child. "Fossils from a younger animal can be used in research to shed light on different aspects of dinosaur life, such as growth patterns."

Animal lived 70 million years ago
Tyrannosaurus rex lived around 70 million years ago and was one of the largest land-dwelling carnivores of all time. Based on the size of its bones, scientists estimate that the specimen that has now been found was only around 13 to 15 years old when it died. "Teen Rex" was therefore around 7.6 meters long and three meters high and weighed around 1600 kilograms - making it around two-thirds the size of a full-grown animal.