Visitor Creator – James Ormiston
Bristol Palaeontology MSci Graduate / Palaeo Artist
Of the various international locations world wide which have seen palaeontologists scouring their strata for fossils, Mongolia is without doubt one of the most intriguing and provoking. Landlocked and sandwiched between its neighbouring geographical behemoths, Russia and China, Mongolia is itself a really giant nation. Throughout 1.5 million sq. kilometres The Nation of Blue Sky’s expanse covers elements of the Altai Mountains within the north, the Gobi Desert within the south, and huge grassland steppes in between. Such a panorama, together with its sparse human inhabitants, definitely calls to thoughts the sort of place the place you’d anticipate to see a small gaggle of sunburnt scientists underneath their wide-brimmed hats chipping away at nature’s time capsules. And for the reason that early 20th Century that’s precisely what has occurred.
Though outsiders had been venturing into Mongolia to analyze its geography and geology for a few years prior, the expeditions of American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews within the Twenties is without doubt one of the greatest identified. They have been really trying to find proof of early people, however turned well-known for a trove of discoveries a lot older. Together with the primary ever stories of preserved dinosaur eggs, the expedition chief was immortalised within the species named Protoceratops andrewsi, which was found by his photographer. Mongolia’s southern area had thus been earmarked as a goal for future exploration. Within the following many years numerous joint expeditions have been made by groups from Russia, and Mongolia itself, figuring out further outcrops. Though examine was suspended in the course of the Second World Conflict, extra Russian groups (led by Ivan Yefremov) continued after peace returned, and additional cooperation with China explored different elements of the Gobi exterior Mongolia’s borders. On this new political local weather it turned tough for western international locations (particularly non-Soviet ones) to return to the area.
Enter the Polish Academy of Sciences. Within the early Nineteen Sixties a staff was put collectively and signed an settlement to work with their Mongolian counterparts in an effort to construct on the work of earlier expeditions. Roman Kozłowski, identified for his work untangling the mysteries of graptolites, was the challenge’s initiator. One of many principal hurdles to beat was the large distances concerned. This not solely utilized to the journey from Poland to Mongolia but additionally the work in Mongolia itself. Within the Nineteen Sixties Mongolia was much more sparsely populated than it’s right this moment (simply in need of 1 million individuals on the 1960 census, right this moment there are nearer to three million), and it was realised that the sphere websites could be at instances a whole bunch of kilometres from the closest settlements. As such, the expeditions must be utterly self-sufficient. All of the tools wanted was assembled in Poland and despatched by rail to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar an entire two months earlier than the groups arrived, who then spent two weeks repacking all of it.
The websites of curiosity have been within the Southern Gobi. These locations have been so distant {that a} secondary retailer for tools and finds was established within the nearest metropolis, Dalanzadgad, which was itself 400 kilometres away. The desert situations referred to as for a reliance on motor transport within the type of Polish, Czech and Soviet-built vehicles and jeeps. Over the course of the primary wave of expeditions not less than two of those would break down and require restore within the Mongolian wilderness. They have been additionally important for sustaining an sufficient water provide, and at one level a truck was required to drive by means of 40 kilometres of sand dunes to the closest effectively each 3-5 days, bringing 600 litres every time. The Mongolian local weather didn’t assist issues both. Regardless of being identified for its clear skies, the nation’s sturdy winds overturned lots of the European-style tents the Polish staff introduced with them on the primary expedition in 1963, and in consequence they later took on the extra confirmed Mongolian-style tents as a substitute (utilizing sail canvas, two giant supporting rods and no flooring).
As with all palaeontological expedition, accounting for all of the tools wanted for excavating and transporting fossils was additionally no small activity. As recalled by staff members Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska & Naydin Dovchin, the 1965 expedition required: “…amongst others: 20 pickaxes, 20 picks, 33 spades, 40 hammers, 100 chisels of assorted sizes, 50 paint brushes, 50 scrapers, 1 hand-pulley, 2 mechanical puIIies (on the vehicles), a set of carpentry and locksmith instruments…120 litres of liquid polystyrene have been used, 2 tons of plaster, 150 sq. metres of canvas, 75 kg cellulose paper, 300 kg of wooden shavings, 200 sq. metres of corrugated cardboard, 5 cubic metre boards for crates, 70 kg nails, 100 ready-made crates…14,000 litres of petrol have been taken from Poland for the three Polish vehicles.” On high of this, at instances it was required to recycle used tools for different functions, establishing short-term carpentry workshops. For instance, makeshift sledges for big fossil-containing constructions (referred to as monoliths, consisting of polystyrene surrounding the fossils, all contained in a wood body – they weighed as much as 2.5 tons every) have been made out of discarded petrol drums. The sledges have been pulled alongside roads that needed to be made by levelling the bottom. It was exhausting work, nevertheless it enabled them to gather 35 tons of fabric within the first three years.
The 1963 expedition didn’t conduct a lot in the best way of excavations. As an alternative it was used as a reconnaissance journey to determine the place particularly the following expeditions ought to search for Cretaceous and Tertiary age deposits (the Tertiary is not in use as a time period). Issues appeared promising, and an itinerary of kit was drawn up for later use. It was determined to divide excavation work between the Nemegt Basin and an space referred to as Bain Dzak, also referred to as the Flaming Cliffs. A part of the Flaming Cliffs contingent would even be the primary to discover new websites south of the Altai Mountains.
A few month after arriving in Mongolia for the second expedition, the groups have been already coming throughout some wonderful fossils. The big tyrannosaur Tarbosaurus had been reported by earlier expeditions, and the groups managed to search out extra specimens of this genus at a website referred to as Tsagan Khushu. This website additionally yielded many fossils of crocodilians, fish and wooden. Different identified dinosaurs have been recovered too, just like the ankylosaur Pinacosaurus and the aforementioned Protoceratops discovered on the Flaming Cliffs websites, in addition to quite a few Cretaceous mammal stays. Excitingly, potential new species have been discovered, together with two unfamiliar ornithomimid dinosaurs at Tsagan Khushu. Throughout this time the Tsagan Khushu website was engulfed in a sandstorm, which left each tent overturned. To the west, the staff tasked with discovering new outcrops close to the mountains got here throughout an Oligocene publicity extraordinarily wealthy in fossils. They collected a whole bunch of lagomorph, rodent and insectivorous mammals in lower than half a day.
After the success of the summer season of 1964, a lot of the tools remained in Mongolia till the following expedition arrived the next yr. The plan was to separate once more into two teams, one primarily based within the Nemegt Basin and the opposite despatched to the Flaming Cliffs. The 2 groups would then reunite within the Nemegt Basin afterward, and one other would kind to analyze a spot referred to as Dzereg Valley to the west.
As earlier than, the Flaming Cliffs proved a bountiful website revealing dinosaur eggs, extra stays of Protoceratops, lizards and mammals. A part of the Nemegt staff handed by means of on the best way to their very own website, this time joined by Mongolian palaeontologist Rinchen Barsbold (who would go on to develop into an influential proponent of examine into the origin of birds and have a dinosaur named after him, the hadrosaurid Barsboldia, by fellow staff members Halszka Osmólska and Teresa Maryańska within the Eighties). Within the Nemegt Basin, the present staff established a handful of websites in a canyon space referred to as Altan Ula. This was the locality which turned infamous for its distance from a dependable water supply. Regardless of the tough situations, it was Altan Ula that produced some of the hanging finds of the expedition: a near-complete skeleton of a giant sauropod dinosaur reported as about 20 metres lengthy found by geologist Ryszard Gradziński. The skeleton took virtually two weeks to excavate, and was discovered on a excessive ledge that autos couldn’t attain. The vehicles may solely get inside about half a kilometre of the positioning. A lot of the bones have been embedded in sandstone that couldn’t be simply damaged, in order that they have been wrapped in plaster as they have been and positioned in crates constructed at a workshop by the vehicles (after being pulled on makeshift sledges).
Solely a few days later, one other important discover was made, this time by Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska. The staff spent two days excavating her discover: a pair of forelimbs belonging to some sort of unknown theropod dinosaur. That it was a brand new species was attention-grabbing sufficient, in any case many extra full theropods had already been discovered, however this one was completely different. Hooked up to a preserved shoulder girdle and sporting spectacular claws, these arms have been an unlimited 2.5 metres lengthy. If your dinosaurs chances are you’ll already know what these have been discovered to belong to, however this shall be returned to later. A big specimen (14 metres lengthy) of Tarbosaurus was additionally discovered round this time by a J. Małecki (whose first identify I used to be unable to search out in my analysis), however throughout its excavation and transport the one truck obtainable for the job broke down. Subsequently solely a hind limb and partial pelvis have been recovered and the remaining was sadly left behind. A couple of weeks afterwards, in late July 1965, the staff despatched westwards reached Dzereg Valley, however needed to apply for permission from the authorities to enter as the realm was underneath quarantine (the explanation for this was not recorded of their printed account).
In late August the groups wrapped up their camps and returned to Ulaanbaatar, the place the collected fossils have been divided up between the Polish and Mongolian academies. The Polish staff then left in early September, ending their first sequence of extraordinarily profitable expeditions. That they had discovered an enormous wealth of Cretaceous fauna; an virtually full new sauropod, new species of ornithomimids, an virtually full Pinacosaurus, a brand new species of ornithischian, the large arms of an unknown theropod, six specimens presumed to be Tarbosaurus in a spread of sizes and distinguished new Oligocene websites south of the Altai Mountains.
To be continued in Half Two!