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Description
OVIRAPTOR -----Image Updated on 09-23-2005.
"Egg Robber"

ANATOMY
Oviraptor was a small, bird-like, omnivorous dinosaur. It was about 6 to 8 feet long (1.8 to 2.5 m), weighing about 55 to 76 pounds (25 to 35 kg). It was lightly built, fast-moving, long-legged, and bipedal (it walked on two legs). It had a curved, flexible, s-shaped neck, a long tail, short, strong arms, and curved claws on its three-fingered hands and three-toed feet. The claws on its large hands were about 3 inches (8 cm) long. Its fingers were long and grasping.
Its strangely-shaped, parrot-like head had a short, toothless beak and extremely powerful jaws, built for crushing action. Oviraptors had a small, stumpy, horn-like crest on its snout, probably used for a mating display; differences in these crests may represent different oviraptor species or the difference between the male, female, and juvenile of the species.

WHEN OVIRAPTOR LIVED
Oviraptor lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 88-70 million years ago. This was a time of high tectonic activity.

BEHAVIOR, INTELLIGENCE
Oviraptor was a relatively large-brained dinosaur that cared for its eggs.

DIET
Oviraptor was probably an omnivore, which is unusual for dinosaurs. It probably ate meat, eggs, seeds, insects, plants, etc. with its beak and powerful jaws. Oviraptor (meaning "egg stealer") was thought to eat mostly eggs. In 1924, an Oviraptor fossil was found on top of some eggs (which contained no fossilized embryos), and people assumed that it had been eating the eggs. Recently, however, in Mongolia, paleontologists found some eggs containing fossilized embryos that were identified as embryonic Oviraptors. These eggs were very similar to those eggs found in 1924 that originally implicated the Oviraptor as a thief. If would seem that the Oviraptor fossil in 1924 was probably a parent of the eggs in the nest, and not an egg stealer but a nurturer.

LOCOMOTION
Oviraptor walked on two long, slender, bird-like legs. It must have been a fast runner, considering its long legs and light weight. It could perhaps perhaps run about as quickly as an ostrich, which can run up to 43 mph (70 kph).

DISCOVERY OF FOSSILS
Oviraptor was first found in the Gobi desert (in Mongolia) in1924 and was described and named by Henry F. Osborn. Fossilized Oviraptor skeletons and eggs have been found in southern Mongolia.

CLASSIFICATION
Oviraptor belonged to the:

Kingdom Animalia (animals)
Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
Order Saurischia - lizard-hipped dinosaurs
Suborder Theropoda - bipedal carnivores
Infraorder Coelurosauria - lightly-built fast-running predators with hollow bones and large brains
Superfamily Maniraptoriformes - advanced coelurosaurs with a fused wrist bone
Family Oviraptoridae - small, bird-like predators with oddly-shaped, beaked, short heads, which included Oviraptor, Conchoraptor, and Ingenia.
Genus Oviraptor
species philoceratops (type species)

Text credit to: ZoomDinosaurs.com
ALL ABOUT DINOSAURS!

Drawn by Brian Roesch on 07-23-2005.

Description
OVIRAPTOR -----Image Updated on 09-23-2005.
"Egg Robber"

ANATOMY
Oviraptor was a small, bird-like, omnivorous dinosaur. It was about 6 to 8 feet long (1.8 to 2.5 m), weighing about 55 to 76 pounds (25 to 35 kg). It was lightly built, fast-moving, long-legged, and bipedal (it walked on two legs). It had a curved, flexible, s-shaped neck, a long tail, short, strong arms, and curved claws on its three-fingered hands and three-toed feet. The claws on its large hands were about 3 inches (8 cm) long. Its fingers were long and grasping.
Its strangely-shaped, parrot-like head had a short, toothless beak and extremely powerful jaws, built for crushing action. Oviraptors had a small, stumpy, horn-like crest on its snout, probably used for a mating display; differences in these crests may represent different oviraptor species or the difference between the male, female, and juvenile of the species.

WHEN OVIRAPTOR LIVED
Oviraptor lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 88-70 million years ago. This was a time of high tectonic activity.

BEHAVIOR, INTELLIGENCE
Oviraptor was a relatively large-brained dinosaur that cared for its eggs.

DIET
Oviraptor was probably an omnivore, which is unusual for dinosaurs. It probably ate meat, eggs, seeds, insects, plants, etc. with its beak and powerful jaws. Oviraptor (meaning "egg stealer") was thought to eat mostly eggs. In 1924, an Oviraptor fossil was found on top of some eggs (which contained no fossilized embryos), and people assumed that it had been eating the eggs. Recently, however, in Mongolia, paleontologists found some eggs containing fossilized embryos that were identified as embryonic Oviraptors. These eggs were very similar to those eggs found in 1924 that originally implicated the Oviraptor as a thief. If would seem that the Oviraptor fossil in 1924 was probably a parent of the eggs in the nest, and not an egg stealer but a nurturer.

LOCOMOTION
Oviraptor walked on two long, slender, bird-like legs. It must have been a fast runner, considering its long legs and light weight. It could perhaps perhaps run about as quickly as an ostrich, which can run up to 43 mph (70 kph).

DISCOVERY OF FOSSILS
Oviraptor was first found in the Gobi desert (in Mongolia) in1924 and was described and named by Henry F. Osborn. Fossilized Oviraptor skeletons and eggs have been found in southern Mongolia.

CLASSIFICATION
Oviraptor belonged to the:

Kingdom Animalia (animals)
Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
Order Saurischia - lizard-hipped dinosaurs
Suborder Theropoda - bipedal carnivores
Infraorder Coelurosauria - lightly-built fast-running predators with hollow bones and large brains
Superfamily Maniraptoriformes - advanced coelurosaurs with a fused wrist bone
Family Oviraptoridae - small, bird-like predators with oddly-shaped, beaked, short heads, which included Oviraptor, Conchoraptor, and Ingenia.
Genus Oviraptor
species philoceratops (type species)

Text credit to: ZoomDinosaurs.com
ALL ABOUT DINOSAURS!

Drawn by Brian Roesch on 07-23-2005.