Oviraptor › Oviraptoridae › Oviraptor
Oviraptor
Oviraptor philoceratops
- Length 2 m
- Mass 40 kg
Oviraptor is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period. The first remains were collected from the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia in 1923 during a paleontological expedition led by Roy Chapman Andrews, and in the following year the genus and type species Oviraptor philoceratops were named by Henry Fairfield Osborn. The genus name refers to the initial thought of egg-stealing habits, and the specific name was intended to reinforce this view indicating a preference over ceratopsian eggs. Despite the fact that numerous specimens have been referred to the genus, Oviraptor is only known from a single partial skeleton regarded as the holotype, as well as a nest of about fifteen eggs and several small fragments from a juvenile.
Attributes
- Length
- 2 m
- Mass
- 40 kg
- Time range
- 83.6 - 72.2 Ma
- Size class
- Small
- Region
- Mongolia
Sources
Facts are drawn from the Paleobiology Database and Wikipedia. Images are reconstructions, not photographs.
