Young boys find T. rex fossil while hiking in North Dakota

June 10 (UPI) -- Three young boys out for a hike in North Dakota noticed something sticking out from the ground and were shocked to find out they had discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil.

Jessin and Liam Fisher, ages 10 and 7, were out hiking onNorth Dakota Bureau of Land Management land in the badlands, near Marmarth, with their cousin, Kaiden Madsen, 9, and their dad, Sam Fisher, when the family spotted an unusual object sticking out of the ground.

They contacted Tyler Lyson, Sam Fisher's high school classmate and now the Curator of Paleontology for the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, to help identify what they had found during their 2022 hike.

Lyson and his paleontology team accompanied the family on a return trip to the scene of the discovery in the summer of 2023 and determined the boys had found a juvenile Tyrannosaurus fossil.

The fossil will make its public debut at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science's "Discovering Teen Rex" exhibit, which opens June 21.

"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 a news release. "I'm excited for museum guests to dig into the 'Teen Rex Discovery' experience, which I think will inspire the imagination and wonder, not only [of] our community, but around the world!"

The opening of the exhibit will also feature the premier of the documentary T. REX, which chronicles the fossil's discovery and features "an unprecedented journey into the world of T. rex and its fellow Cretaceous carnivores."