Join a 1920s paleontology expedition to the Gobi Desert with Roy Chapman Andrews, then visit modern-day museum collections with paleontologist Mike Novacek to discover how these finds are studied today.

This 360 video is part of Shelf Life’s second season, exploring fantastic stories from far-away places where some of the American Museum of Natural History’s 33 million specimens and artifacts were discovered. The series links those collection items and epic adventures of the past with current scientific inquiry. Visit our series website for more info:
amnh.org/ShelfLife

For this film, our producers unearthed, scanned, and transferred thousands of archival elements to build a virtual Gobi Desert, layering material into a 360 canvas. Those black and white images were integrated with matte painting, 360 environment creation, and live-action shoots to produce a captivating look at one of the most important expeditions in the Museum’s history.