Living: The Oviraptor was a bird-like Theropod with a remarkable head. The strong toothless jaws had nothing but two small spikes hanging from the palate. Some species had a crest on the head. The rest of the body looked more like a typical Theropod with muscular arms,

By Josep Fernandez Felgueres

three-fingered hands with claws, long legs with three-toed feet’s and a long tail. It got its name from the thought that it ate eggs from the other Ceratopids nests. The first Oviraptor Philoceratops was found with a crushed skull, lying on a nest of Protoceratops-eggs. Just like some snakes, the Oviraptor had two small spikes in the mouth, which were ideal to crush eggs with. If an Oviraptor was surprised at the nest, the best strategy was to run from its slower enemies. It seems that a Protoceratops stamped an Oviraptor to death, before it could run away or defend itself.

Two species: There were two kinds of Oviraptor’s in Mongolia. Oviraptor Philoceratops, which lived in the crowded parts of the desert. In these places were several nests of Ceratopsids, which gave good nourishment. Another specie, the Oviraptor Mongoliensis, had a tall cupola-crest. It lived near lakes and rivers, which were rich of shelled animals.

Skull: An Oviraptorid’s tooth-less skull was tall but light. Many of the bones were only bracers around the holes for the eyes, nose and jaw-muscles.

By Berislav Krzic

The scientists thought that the crest-less skulls were from young dinosaurs, but now they know, that they were from two other Oviraptorids: Conchoraptors or Ingenia.

Hips, legs and tail: As on most Theropods, the Oviraptor had a slim pelvis. It had a long shinbone and three weight-carrying toes on each foot. Its tail was supported by 40 tail-vertebrates.

Mistake in being egg-thief: It has not been long ago, that the scientists actually discovered that the Oviraptor not was an egg-thief. It was just a coincidence that the bones were right next to the Protoceratops-eggs, and that almost next to that nest, was a nest with Oviraptor eggs. So it is very wrong to call this dinosaur an egg-thief, at least it did not eat dinosaur eggs.