Dinosaurs of the flaming cliffs

by Michael J. Novacek

In 1993, an international team of paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, in the fourth year of a multiyear expedition, made one of the most miraculous fossil discoveries in history. They unearthed a treasure trove of Cretaceous dinosaurs and mammals, including several new species, that has already helped to reshape our understanding of the dinosaur age. In Dinosaurs of the Flaming Cliffs, team leader Michael Novacek, Provost of Science of the American Museum of Natural History and Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, re-creates the day-to-day drama of field exploration over the past six years in the Gobi and recounts his and his colleagues' historic discoveries, reported in front-page headlines across the world. In a remarkable narrative that interweaves expedition chapters with in-depth scientific discussions on the nature and importance of the fossil record, Novacek takes us on a journey that explores the very nature of scien