A journey to Mongolia to recover a missing Thescelosaurus skeleton leads to a dinosaur hunt in the heart of the Gobi desert.
The Gobi desert is unbearably hot, with the sun beating down relentlessly. Batu, our guide, remains unfazed in his coat and gloves, pointing out a distant rock formation. “Nick Cage dinosaur,” he says with enthusiasm, referring to the famous Tyrannosaurus skull that was smuggled out of Mongolia and sold to actor Nicolas Cage for $276,000.
Though we have no certainty that we’re standing at the actual dig site, the heat and dust make it hard to care. Just 48 hours earlier, the hunt for the exact location where the skull was found seemed urgent. But now, it feels like an afterthought.
Our real mission in Mongolia is to track down our own missing dinosaur. Two years ago, we bought a 50-million-year-old Thescelosaurus skeleton at the Tucson Fossil and Gem show, only for it to disappear before it could be delivered. Batu’s frustration is palpable as he shakes his head. “Americans,” he says with a sigh. “They love to steal dinosaurs.”
