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Dzharakuduk Canyons

Desert canyons about 80 km west of Uchkuduk where 92–90-million-year-old dinosaur fossils and petrified trees have been found since 1919.

NatureLate Cretaceous

About the place

Dzharakuduk is an area of eroded cliffs and canyons covering about 30 km² in the Kyzylkum desert, roughly 80 km west of Uchkuduk. Its rocks were laid down in the Late Cretaceous, about 92 to 90 million years ago. The site was first described in 1919 by the geologist A. D. Arkhangelsky.

Decades of work here have turned up fossils of more than 200 species from over 70 families, among them dinosaurs, early mammals, turtles and fish, which makes it one of the key sites of its age in Asia. Petrified tree trunks up to 4 m long lie among the cliffs. The area is remote, so go with a driver and a guide.

Why go

  • Late Cretaceous fossil beds
  • Petrified trees up to 4 m
  • Remote Kyzylkum canyons

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