The Gobi Desert, Mongolia, is a mecca for paleontologists.
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Hundreds interested in prehistoric lizards visit the country annually.
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Mongolia was part of the prehistoric continent Laurasia.
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Daohugou in Inner Mongolia contains rock of the Jiulongshan Formation, formed 165 million years ago, in the mid-Jurassic period.
Paleontologists have found 100s of different fossilized remains.
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The remains of the halszkaraptor escuilliei were discovered in Mongolia.
It lived 71-75 million years ago.
It moved on water and land.
Its upper limbs were similar to a penguin’s, its neck -  a goose, and it had many teeth.
Its legs had fingers and claws, not membranes, indicating that it belongs to theropods.
It ate fish, crustaceans, small reptiles and mammals.
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Well-preserved bones of hadrosaurids, gobihadros mongoliensis, were discovered in the Gobi Desert.
It existed about 100 million years ago.
This dinosaur was about 3 meters in length, and moved on all fours.
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Four skeletons of oviraptors, oksoko avarsan, were found in the Gobi Desert.
These lived about 68 million years ago.
It had 2-legged forelimbs, a beak without teeth and plumage, and was 2-meters long.
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These remains were discovered by scientists from the University of Edinburgh.
The animals’ beaks were similar to modern parrots.
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Alvarezsaurs lived 160 to 70 million years ago in many parts of the world, including Mongolia, and was considered to be a prehistoric bird.
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Soviet scientists discovered the bones of tarbosaurus and alioramus in the Gobi Desert in 1946.
At the end of the Cretaceous period, the diversity of flora and fauna here reached its peak, with worms and other invertebrate reptiles feeding on sauropods and ornithischian dinosaurs.
These served as prey for predators.
Fossil remains of carnivorous dinosaurs are concentrated in the Nemegt Formation.
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One Eric Prokopi tried to smuggle a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, estimated at 70 million years, from Mongolia to the United States in 2012.
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The entire skeleton of this dinosaur was discovered in Mongolia in 1945.
Prokopi hoped to sell it for $1.1 million.
He ended up in prison, and the bones were returned to the museum.
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Warning: these questons and answers are not all representative of the way questions will be asked and answered in the pilot, because some questions are compound and some answers do not include citations.

Q: Why is Mongolia a Mecca for paleontologists?
A: 100s of fossilized remains have been found there. [d3c2428f-fb3d-42ef-8a45-e64222f807f6]

Q: Name the types of prehistoric creatures whose remains have been found in the Gobi Desert:
A: Hadrosaurids, Gobihadros mongoliensis [0a0bbe7c-8894-496a-996e-7c9e68d814ca]A: Four skeletons of oviraptors, Oksoko avarsan [d40c2bd6-67ea-44fa-bc4c-a4f92f69184d, e6145631-da34-4c2c-992d-b15d0801dfaa, 88dcc600-5c6b-42a0-9786-d3dc3ec8b55d]A: Tarbosaurs and Alioramus [57414b81-ca38-4a60-8767-23b6a79ad3ce]

Q: When did the Oksoko avarsan live?
A: 68 million years ago [d40c2bd6-67ea-44fa-bc4c-a4f92f69184d, e6145631-da34-4c2c-992d-b15d0801dfaa, 88dcc600-5c6b-42a0-9786-d3dc3ec8b55d]

Q: Describe the oksoko avarsan:
A: It had 2-legged forelimbs, a beak without teeth and plumage, and was 2-meters long. [d40c2bd6-67ea-44fa-bc4c-a4f92f69184d, e6145631-da34-4c2c-992d-b15d0801dfaa, 88dcc600-5c6b-42a0-9786-d3dc3ec8b55d]A: The animals’ beaks were similar to modern parrots. [88dcc600-5c6b-42a0-9786-d3dc3ec8b55d]

Q: Who discovered the oksoko avarsan remains?
A: University of Edinburgh scientists [88dcc600-5c6b-42a0-9786-d3dc3ec8b55d]

Q: What was the alvarezsaur considered to be?
A: A prehistoric bird [47973f62-306d-42bd-b284-11d336a097d8, 1c8a75ee-1f81-4d71-9265-3e92e82cf7d5]

Q: Describe the Halszkaraptor escuilliei:
A: Its upper limbs are similar in structure a penguin’s, its neck - like a goose, and it had many teeth. Its legs had fingers and claws, not membranes [7016d833-b44c-4580-9a23-4c4ebe4a6bdc]

Q: When did it live?
A: 71-75 million years ago [7016d833-b44c-4580-9a23-4c4ebe4a6bdc]

Q: What did it eat?
A: Fish, crustaceans, small reptiles and mammals. [7016d833-b44c-4580-9a23-4c4ebe4a6bdc]

Q: What is in Inner Mongolia?
A: Rock of the Jiulongshan Formation, formed 165 million years ago, in the mid-Jurassic period. [d3c2428f-fb3d-42ef-8a45-e64222f807f6]

Q: What was discovered in the Jiulongshan Formation?
A: 100s of different fossilized remains. [d3c2428f-fb3d-42ef-8a45-e64222f807f6]

Q: What prehistoric continent was Mongolia part of?
A: Laurasia [57414b81-ca38-4a60-8767-23b6a79ad3ce]

Q: What did Eric Prokopi try to do?
A: To smuggle a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton from Mongolia to the United States in 2012. [a5a3d243-ecbb-4e37-b928-4e7985fc34a9]A: Prokopi tried to sell the skeleton for $1.1 million. [b837ace4-1125-4450-a04c-2d8bc4670658]