The Inner Mongolia Research Project: Dinosaur Palaeontology in the Gobi Desert

Abstract

The Cretaceous-aged rocks of the Gobi desert are legendary amongst palaeontologists for their spectacular, three-dimensionally preserved fossils. If you have ever heard of the dinosaur Velociraptor then these are the rocks it originates from. This talk focuses on the Campanian-aged (~70-80 Ma) dinosaurs of Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia, China. Preserved in alluvial red beds these dinosaurs are found in a wide range of lithologies that appear to have formed under arid conditions. Numerous dinosaur species have been identified from Bayan Mandahu over nearly 100 years of exploration. These species represent an ecosystem that is similar to those reconstructed at contemporaneous red bed deposits in Mongolia. The talk briefly outlines the geology and history of exploration at dinosaur-bearing localities and introduces The Inner Mongolia Research Project. Important Project discoveries are discussed including their impact on our knowledge of dinosaurian evolution and of evolutionary processes more generally. Amongst the Project’s discoveries are the World’s only single-fingered dinosaur, Linhenykus, as well as the near-complete Velociraptor relative, Linheraptor, both of which appeared on the cover of Geoscientist magazine (the 2008 expedition was partly funded by the Society). In the final part of the talk, the experiences and discoveries of the 2013 expedition are shared.