Dinosaurs of the Flaming Cliff (Paperback)

~ Michael Novacek (Author) "Then in the early twenties of this century, the Asiatic dinosaur rush began, shifting the attention of dinosaur hunters (at least for the time being)..." (more)
Key Phrases: ankylosaur skull, oviraptorid embryo, lizard skulls, Flaming Cliffs, Ukhaa Tolgod, American Museum (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

One of the fields of study opened up by the collapse of Communism is, oddly enough, that of the distant past: Western archeologists have for the first time in six decades been allowed to explore the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. This is the region explored in the 1930s by the famed Roy Chapman Andrews of the American Museum of Natural History. It is also the region wonderfully described in this stirring book by Michael Novacek, the current curator of the museum's department of vertebrate paleontology, who led the recent expeditions onto the high desert and into the heart of the Cretaceous Period in Asia. In 1993, Novacek's expedition found an astonishing trove of fossils in a wasteland called Ukhaa Tolgod, not too far from the Flaming Cliffs where Andrews made his most important finds. But, as with all great travel adventure stories, getting to Ukhaa Tolgod is the real tale. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In 1990, a team of paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History and the Mongolian State Museum began to explore the Gobi Desert for fossils; nearly 70 years had elapsed since the last American expedition, under Roy Chapman Andrews. Team leader Novacek, provost of science and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American museum recounts six years of fieldwork in a paleontological paradise. The banner year was 1993, when the team found a trove of dinosaurs, eggs, nests and early mammals, some new to science. It is an exciting story of adventure and discovery. The Gobi Desert is one of the earth's most hostile environments, with sandstorms and extreme heat, causing dehydration and exhaustion. Novacek interweaves chapters on the expedition with discussions of the importance of the fossil record; he takes us into the Cretaceous (140 million to 65 million years ago) in brief vignettes. In addition to his account of the expedition, Novacek has given us a brilliant introduction to paleontology.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (August 18, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385477759
• ISBN-13: 978-0385477758
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #361,415 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential update, December 12, 1999

By	Kellyannl (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Growing up in New York with the American Museum, I was an early dino fan. I made my parents get all the dinosaur books I could find, and they all had three pictures in common. The first was a poor Brontosaur being killed by an Allosaur (preferably squashing said Allosaur in it's death throes). The second was a Tyrranosaur and Triceratops locked in combat through eternity (said Triceratops preferably avenging the death of an innocent duckbill at the jaws of said Tyrranosaur). And the third was always a Protoceratops defending it's eggs from a vicious Oviraptor - the third in the unholy carnivorous dinosaur trinity, because we had never heard of Velociraptor/Utahraptor.

This was only twenty years ago, and recent discoveries have turned this whole third scenario on it's head.

The American Museum's expeditions to Mongolia have changed everything we know about Oviraptor. This one is a must for all dinosaur fans, taking us through what the expedition has learned about Mongolian dinosaurs since the seventies and describing the harrowing conditions that the expedition had to face.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for armchair travelers and dino fans alike, May 27, 1999

By	"mary_edington" (San Mateo, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dinosaurs of the Flaming Cliffs (Hardcover)

Two books in one: a look at the Cretaceous inhabitants of the Gobi, and an adventure narrative of the archaeological teams that study them. Read this to get a feeling of what it's like to be a field archaeologist in one of the most remote desert areas in the world.

5.0 out of 5 stars Return to Xanadu: A Paleontologist's Paradise, June 9, 2003

By	Jonathan B. Dwyer (Ossining, NY) - See all my reviews

.....Only once in a great while does a book appear which makes a great leap forward in our understanding of paleontology and the per-history of the planet, and dinosaurs in particular. Such a book is "Dinosaurs of the Flaming Cliffs." It is an account of the American Museum of Natural History/Mongolian expeditions to the Gobi desert in 1990-95, a place first explored by Roy Chapman Andrews of the AMNH in the 1920s, where the first scientifically studied dinosaur eggs were discovered.

.....Dr. Michael J. Novacek, the expedition leader and Sr. Vice President and Provost of Science for the Museum, gives us a riveting first-person account of these explorations, alternating with detailed chapters on the paleontological discoveries which they made. Moving from collections of bones to an appraisal of how the animals (reptiles and mammals) lived and died, he gives us a new understanding, based on discoveries still being analyzed, of the implications to existing life on the planet, including homo sapiens. Including in his analysis all of biology as well as geology, Novacek giges us pause to consider what will survive on earth after a similar passage of time. All this without leaving out the human element: 1990s Mitsubishis are just as prone to getting stuck in the mud or sand as were 1920s Dodges!
.....The expeditions start at the Flaming Cliffs in Mongolia's Gobi Desert, where the Andrews/Granger expeditions made their most important finds, and go on to desert locations, mountains and canyons such as the Nemegt Valley, with names like Tugrugeen Shireh, Kheerman Tsav, and Ukhaa Tolgod. This last location they called Xanadu, after Kubla Khan's famous "pleasure dome," because it was such a treasure trove of new discoveries. And they were not only dinosaurs, but often tiny mammals, our true ancestors.
.....Dr. Novacek presents us with the greatest assemblage of new paleontology discoveries currently available to the average reader, beautifully and amply illustrated by Ed Heck of the Museum staff.
.....No one interested in paleontology and dinosaurs can afford not to read this book. Nor can anyone interested in the course of life on planet earth. Dr. Novacek and his colleagues' work is still going on.
.....This book is highly recommended for everyone from high school to old age. Public libraries should have it in their science collections. And don't neglect "Time Traveler," a later book also by Dr. Novacek.
.....We can only hope that explorers like this will keep on going (to use Roy Chapman Andrews' phrase) to "the ends of the earth," and come back to tell us about it!