Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert is an immense stretch of sand and grassland that spans northern China and southern Mongolia . It is the sixth-largest desert on Earth and contains remnants of the Great Wall of China.
Climate
The land is harsh, arid, and unforgiving. At night, temperatures dip down to near freezing with the occasional snow and frost along the dunes.
Fauna & Flora
Despite such foreboding conditions, an abundance of flora and fauna does thrive within the Gobi Desert.
Native Species
Natural Resources
The Gobi Desert has provided invaluable finds for the paleontological community, as the first dinosaur eggs were discovered within its sands. Incredibly important specimens such as Deinocheirus, Protoceratops, Velociraptor, Mononykus, Tarbosaurus, Psittacosaurus, Gallimimus, Microceratus, Saurolophus, Tarchia, Oviraptor, Gigantoraptor, and Prenocephale were all discovered within various different formations throughout. The most important paleontological find in the region - as well as one of the most important finds of all time - is the world renown Fighting Dinosaurs fossil where near complete skeletons of Velociraptor and Protoceratops were preserved in the midst of combat.
History
A giant sandworm kaiju had managed to flee into the desert from its Mongolian captor and gave birth to one offspring. The sandworms slept deep underground and rarely ventured for the surface save for food. The chance sightings led to the rumors of the Mongolian Death Worm.
During the 1920s, American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews ventured into the Gobi Desert on an expedition to uncover ancient fossils. He detailed many of his findings in his book On the Trail of Ancient Man and recorded the first instance of the Mongolian Death Worm in modern history. Though the kaiju existed, he found no evidence matching the claims made by many of the locals about the creature. All of the accounts were secondhand with no physical evidence to base the claims on. In 1983, a tartar sand boa was shown to Mongolian locals who believed it to be the creature from the legend.
No sightings occurred until 1967 when nuclear bomb testing in the area stirred the creature from its hibernation, resulting in retaliation against the Chinese military at the Lop Nur Nuclear Test Base. This led to a surge of interest from many aspiring and amateur cryptozoologists wishing to discover the creature. The sandworm - however - was quick to retreat as soon as it attacked and avoided being spotted by the most intrepid cryptozoologists. After bomb testing officially ended in 1996, the kaiju returned to slumber with its parent.
It would not be until 2020 when an Australian mining corporation disturbed the kaiju while digging for copper, resulting in it attacking and defending the desert region.
For a more expansive list, check the article on the real life Gobi Desert.
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