Fossils of the Flaming Cliffs

The new exhibition Fossils of the Flaming Cliffs celebrates the history of the Museum’s fossil excavations in the Gobi through large-scale photography and fossil casts of landmark discoveries.Museum scientists have been traveling to the Gobi for over 100 years, searching for the beautifully preserved dinosaur, lizard, and mammal fossils that lie just below the sand. Their spectacular discoveries have transformed our understanding of ancient life. In the 1920s, the Museum team, led by legendary fossil collector Roy Chapman Andrews, discovered several nests of dinosaur eggs at Flaming Cliffs. Their discovery provided the first clear evidence of how dinosaurs reproduced. James B. Shackelford; AMNH 410765 The lack of maps and roads made driving through the Gobi challenging. Intense storms produced muddy, sodden ground that was nearly impossible to drive through. People on today’s expeditions face similar challenges.