July 1996 issue of National Geographic

[Andrew Howey <ajhowey@ix.netcom.com>]

There's an article entitled "DINOSAURS OF THE GOBI" in the July, 1996 issue
of National Geographic (pp 72-89) that described an expedition to Mongolia,
apparently in the summer of 1995.  During the the course of the expedition,
which was led by Michael Novacek and Mark Norell, they found at least three,
maybe more, Oviraptor nests (with brooding parent) and at least one
dromaeosaur nest, as well as numerous fossilized lizards, multitubercates,
and placentals.

I don't recall anywhere in the text of the article where it was stated that
remains of Mononykus were found.  However, the author "definitively" stated
on one of the illustration pages that Mononykus is a primitive bird.  Is
Mononykus generally considered to be a true bird or a very bird-like theropod?

I hope you all find this interesting.  I thought it was quite interesting
because it was only a short while ago that so many people were debating
whether the first apparent brooding  specimen of Oviraptor was actually
nest-sitting or engaged in nest robbing.  Now there are several more
specimens preserved in the same sort of pose.  The author (Donovan Webster)
refers to the site as a possible rookerie.

Andrew Howey
ajhowey@ix.netcom.com