21/09/2026
🇲🇳🔥 Another remarkable season of citizen science has just come to an end in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert.
Working under the auspices of the Mongolian Institute of Paleontology, participants in our “Dinosaurs of Mongolia with Phil Currie 2026” expedition worked alongside professional paleontologists in the field—and helped make some exciting discoveries. 🦖🦴⛏️
Among this season’s finds were two complete Protoceratops andrewsi, a complete lower jaw of Shamosuchus, an extinct Late Cretaceous crocodile relative, dozens of dinosaur teeth, finger and limb bones, as well as newly identified microsites and bone beds. Participants also helped locate, document and catalogue many additional fossil remains that will contribute to ongoing scientific research. Sadly, we also found and documented a few more poached sites as well, from the early years.
This was also one of our most internationally diverse teams, bringing together participants from Mongolia, Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Denmark—united by a shared passion for paleontology and discovery in the Gobi. 🇲🇳 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🇬🇧 🇩🇰
Citizen science is at the heart of these expeditions. The participants become part of the field team and contribute directly to the exploration and documentation of Mongolia’s extraordinary paleontological heritage.
We continued a favorite expedition tradition—creating a special T-shirt for each field season. This year’s design, created by participant and Institute fossil preparator Otgon Ganbaatar, features the Nemegtosaurus excavated by our citizen-science team in 2023, connecting this year’s expedition with discoveries from seasons past. It is a small tradition, but one that connects each new field season with the discoveries—and the people—who came before.
To paraphrase the spirit of Roy Chapman Andrews, this was certainly one of our finest seasons to date.
The most exciting thought is that the Gobi still holds countless stories beneath its surface. There is much more waiting to be discovered...
