Illustration by Serge Seidlitz

Kids in North Dakota have found one of the world’s oldest teenagers—a young Tyrannosaurus rex! 

Brothers Jessin and Liam Fisher and their cousin Kaiden Madsen were hunting for fossils in 2022 when they spotted bones poking out of a rock. The bones turned out to be part of a young T. rex.

Paleontologists at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in Colorado recently announced the find. They say the dinosaur was likely between 13 and 15 years old when it died. Only a handful of juvenile T. rex skeletons have ever been found.

Nicknamed “Teen Rex,” the dino roamed some 67 million years ago. Scientists hope to learn more about how T. rex grew and whether this one belonged to a new species. 

Jessin, Liam, and Kaiden helped excavate the skeleton. Jessin, 12, wants to be a paleontologist. “It’s been a lifelong dream of mine,” he says.

—Lisa M. Herrington