Peter Falkingham, a paleobiology professor at Liverpool John Moores University and the lead author of the study, was able to examine the digital information remotely rather than traveling to the discovery site.
The approach also provides a way to preserve detailed information about the tracks even after the original fossils are removed or the surrounding rock continues to weather.
What will happen to the T. rex footprints?
Researchers plan to recover three of the four footprints from the site this fall. They are expected to be transported by helicopter to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, where they will become part of the museum’s collection.
The museum also plans to share updates about the recovery process with visitors during the winter.
The discovery gives scientists an exceptionally rare opportunity to study not just what an adult T. rex looked like, but how it actually moved across the ground.
