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Bayanzag 1-Page THE FLAMING CLIFFS MONGOLIA’S FAMOUS FOSSIL BEDS The Flaming Cliffs in the heart of the Gobi Desert are known worldwide for containing exceptional dinosaur fossils. The cliffs, the fossils, and the plants and animals who live nearby are protected by local government as part of Bayanzag Park. As you enjoy the park, please leave everything as you find it – for science, for the environment, and for Mongolia. WHO LIVED HERE A DELICATE LIVING ECOSYSTEM The Gobi Desert is home to animals and plants that live 80 MILLION YEARS AGO? nowhere else. Follow these rules to keep Bayanzag’s living The time was the Late Cretaceous: the last era when ecosystem from going extinct like the dinosaurs: dinosaurs ruled the earth. The Flaming Cliffs were sand dunes in a desert oasis, and many animals came here to hunt, Never damage plants or collect wood. forage, and raise their young. Meet three of them: Never feed or harm wildlife. Take your trash with you when you leave. Weighing two tons and covered with FOUND A FOSSIL? spiky armor, Pinacosaurus was a formidable plant-eater first discovered Leave it alone. Fossils lose scientific data at the Flaming Cliffs in 1923. and can easily be destroyed if moved. Plus, removing fossils without a permit is illegal. Protoceratops was the first dinosaur If it’s more than a small discovered in fragment, notify the local Mongolia, at officials of Umnugovi the Flaming Aimag. Cliffs in 1922. It ate plants and Also notify the ISMD at was about the size of MongolianDinosaurs.org. Take a sheep. a photo and describe the location. Be careful who you share the location with; Velociraptor, the fossil poaching is common in the Gobi. sharp-clawed star of the Jurassic Park films, was discovered at the Flaming Cliffs in 1924. It was two Information provided by Institute for the Study meters from head to tail, of Mongolian Dinosaurs, a registered nonprofit, feathery like a bird, and nongovernment organization based in the hunted other animals – United States and Mongolia. including Protoceratops. MongolianDinosaurs.org.
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