Jessin and Liam Fisher, 10 and 7, were hiking with their dad Sam Fisher and cousin Kaiden Madsen, 9 on federal land near Marmath, North Dakota when the boys stumbled upon a big strange bone poking out of the ground. Thinking it was a fossil of some kind, they reached out to Tyler Lyson, paleontology curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for an expert opinion. Turns out, the ancient object was part of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Not only that, it was a juvenile T-rex which are even rarer to find.
"By going outside and embracing their passions and the thrill of discovery, these boys have made an incredible dinosaur discovery that advances science and deepens our understanding of the natural world," Lyson said in an announcement.
A team of paleontologist have since collected the fossil from its resting place for the last ~68 million years.
The fossil is now on display at the Denver Museum in an exhibition titled Discovering Teen Rex.
