Fossil hunting in the Gobi Desert. We visit an area of the Gobi nicknamed the "Flaming Cliffs" after the red color of the rock there. In the 1920s, a man named Roy Chapman Andrews led an American expedition to this area, unearthing enormous complete skeletons and the first known set of fossilized dinosaur eggs. A Mongolian paleontologist takes our group us around the site and shows us how to look for fossils. Paleontologists say that, compared to other places, searching for fossils in the Gobi is ridiculously easy. Most of the dinosaurs buried there were consumed in sandstorms, and the sand compressed into sandstone. Every year, erosion causes new areas to be uncovered, so in the right places, one can find chips of fossilized bone just lying on the surface. [ Previous ] [ Gallery ] [ Next: An unusual taste test ] |