Country
Fossil hunting in Mongolia
The Mongolian Gobi Desert is one of the world's premier Late Cretaceous dinosaur regions — the Flaming Cliffs of Bayanzag yielded the first dinosaur eggs ever identified in 1923, and Gobi outcrops continue to produce world-class Velociraptor, Protoceratops, and Oviraptor specimens.
All vertebrate fossils in Mongolia are state property; export is illegal and aggressively enforced after several high-profile international prosecutions of trafficked specimens. Visitors should never buy fossils from local vendors.
Travel logistics are non-trivial. Most visitors join a multi-day Gobi tour from Ulaanbaatar with a 4×4 driver and guide; navigation is by GPS and local knowledge. Spring and autumn are the most pleasant seasons.
Top picks: Bayanzag (Flaming Cliffs), Ömnögovi (Late Cretaceous Djadochta Formation, free in-situ exploration of red sandstone cliffs).
1 fossil site
