American Museum of Natural History Opens Exhibition Honoring Gobi Desert Fossil Hunters

A new exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York highlights the fossil hunters who ventured into Mongolia's Gobi Desert. In the early 20th century, Roy Chapman Andrews spearheaded expeditions that led to the discovery of numerous fossils from dinosaurs, mammals, and reptiles. Notably, his 1923 find of dinosaur eggs at the Flaming Cliffs marked the first substantial proof of dinosaur reproduction. The expeditions also uncovered the Paraceratherium, a colossal hornless ancestor of the rhinoceros, which could stand 16 feet tall and weigh as much as 20 tons. Since 1990, Mark A. Norell and Michael Novacek have carried on this legacy, conducting numerous expeditions that solidified the evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds. The Gobi Desert is home to some of the most remarkable dinosaur fossils, with findings that date back over 50 million years, and this exhibition pays tribute to the daring explorers whose discoveries revolutionized paleontology in this isolated area.