Flaming Cliffs

Far view of the Flaming Cliffs

The Flaming Cliffs site (also known as Bayanzag (Chinese: 巴彥扎格), Bain-Dzak or Bayn Dzak)[1] (Mongolian: Баянзаг rich in saxaul), with the alternative Mongolian name of Mongolian: Улаан Эрэг (red cliffs), is a region of the Gobi Desert in the Ömnögovi Province of Mongolia, in which important fossil finds have been made. It was given this name by American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, who visited in the 1920s. The area is most famous for yielding the first discovery of dinosaur eggs. Other finds in the area include specimens of Velociraptor[2] and eutherian mammals.[3] It exposes rocks of the Djadochta Formation. It is illegal to remove fossils from the area without appropriate permits.[4]

The nickname refers to the red or orange color of the sandstone cliffs (especially at a sunset).[5]

  1. ^ Colbert, Edwin Harris (1984) The great dinosaur hunters and their discoveries Courier Dover, New York,page 210, ISBN 978-0-486-24701-4; revised edition of Men and Dinosaurs 1st edition 1968
  2. ^ "Dinosaurs of the Flaming Cliffs". dinosaurcollector.150m.com. Archived from the original on 2012-12-26. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  3. ^ Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia (1969) "Preliminary data on the Upper Cretaceous eutherian mammals from Bayn Dzak, Gobi Dert" Archived 2014-01-12 at the Wayback Machine Palaeontologia Polonica No. 19: pp. 171–206
  4. ^ Mastsuura, general editor, Michael Bright ; preface by Koichiro (2010). 1001 natural wonders : you must see before you die (2009 ed.). London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 625. ISBN 9781844036745. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Jane Blunden . Mongolia: the Bradt travel guide. 2008