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Journal Of Vertebrate Paleontology

All articles tagged with #journal of vertebrate paleontology

First full-grown T. rex trackway uncovered in North Dakota badlands
science1 month ago

First full-grown T. rex trackway uncovered in North Dakota badlands

Paleontologists document the first trackway of an adult Tyrannosaurus rex—a 23-foot sequence of four three-toed footprints in the North Dakota badlands dating to about 66.5 million years ago. The animal is inferred to have walked about 3.5–4.5 mph, and the find, discovered in 2025 on U.S. Forest Service land near Marmarth, was described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Three of the four prints will be airlifted to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for study, highlighting movement clues that bones alone can’t reveal and building on evidence that only two adult T. rex footprints had been confirmed previously.

Fully intact 5-million-year saber-toothed cat skull pulled from museum drawer
science3 months ago

Fully intact 5-million-year saber-toothed cat skull pulled from museum drawer

A UC Berkeley postdoc identified a nearly complete skull of the 5-million-year-old saber-toothed cat Adelphailurus kansensis found in a drawer at the American Museum of Natural History. This marks the first fully complete skull of the species, offering new insight into saber-toothed evolution; researchers note that the upper canines were highly effective but fragile, and as large prey declined after the last ice age, these cats likely faced extinction around 10,000 years ago.