Marmarth family unearths a rare Juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex in upcoming documentary

05 Sep Marmarth family unearths a rare Juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex in upcoming documentary

June 21, 2024

Kirk Johnson, Sant Director at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, pauses for a picture with colleague Dr. Lyson, and the boys and father Sam Fisher.

If you type the search word “legacy” into a search engine, you’ll see it defined as “the long-lasting impact of particular events, actions, etc. that took place in the past, or of a person’s life”. If you type the search words “Juvenile T-Rex North Dakota” into a search engine, you’ll be greeted with six pages of news stories covering the remarkable discovery made by Marmarth’s own Fisher family.

In the summer of 2022 while out on a hike, the Fisher brothers, Liam and Jessin, along with their cousin Kaiden Madsen and father Sam, made what they would soon find out was a remarkable discovery. Sam and Liam found what the boys would call a “chunkosaurus”, meaning chunks of dinosaur fossils that are broken into so many chunks they’re indiscernible. Sam called for the other two boys and, upon seeing the specimen Jessin, the aspiring paleontologist, noted that it was a fossil.

Sam got in touch with childhood friend, paleontologist, and curator of paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Dr. Tyler Lyson who confirmed that it was indeed a dinosaur fossil. Lyson, also a Marmarth native, grew up roaming the same badlands in search of fossils. “This is just such a remarkable story of discovery,” said Lyson in an interview with CNN. “It’s just so cool to see these boys getting outside and making an awesome discovery like they made.”

Film crew documents the boys assisting in the excavation process, Liam Fisher, Kaiden Madsen and Jessin Fisher.

Watching the events of the last few years has been a full circle experience for Lyson who, in middle school roaming the area’s badlands, found his first dinosaur before discovering the unique Dakota dinosaur several years later. The extraordinary specimen had soft tissues that were still in a non-collapsed or crushed state.

The Fisher family took an active role in the excavation of the fossil, a dream for young Jessin. It wasn’t until the excavation that Jessin and Lyson found a lower jaw with several teeth instead of the anticipated cervical vertebrae of a duckbill dinosaur that led them to uncover the identity of the dinosaur: a tyrannosaurus rex. “And it doesn’t get more diagnostic than that, seeing these giant tyrannosaurus teeth staring back at you,” said Lyson in an interview with phys.org.

Dr. Lyson and Jessin discover a tooth identifying the fossil as a tyrannosaurus. Jessin holding the tooth.

However, the fossil is more than a T-rex. It’s a juvenile Trex, estimated to be approximately 13 to 15 years old at the time of death, likely weighing approximately 3,500 pounds, and measuring roughly 25 feet long. With not many juveniles found, this fossil, named “The Brother” by the boys, has the potential to help answer questions about how these prehistoric beasts grew up, making it scientifically significant. “Where Jessin aspires to be a paleontologist, it makes my heart happy his dream is coming true so early,” said mother, Danielle.

A camera crew came along for the journey, documenting the process for the upcoming documentary starring the boys. “Discovering Teen Rex”, a temporary exhibit featuring the fossil, will be displayed in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science beginning on June 21. The documentary will premiere at the museum’s Infinity Theater, where the Fisher’s will travel to see their big screen debut.

Jessin Fisher and Dr. Tyler Lyson.