DinoFact
Oviraptor Facts
Oviraptor was a beaked, bird-like dinosaur once wrongly thought to be an egg thief — it was actually guarding its own nest.
- Oviraptorids, once thought to steal eggs, were likely caring parents that brooded their own nests.
- The name Oviraptor means 'egg thief,' a misleading label from an early misinterpretation.
- For decades, those Mongolian eggs were wrongly attributed to Protoceratops rather than Oviraptor.
- Oviraptor, whose name means 'egg thief', roamed Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous; it was a omnivore — wrongly accused of stealing eggs it was actually guarding.
- Gigantoraptor, whose name means 'giant thief', roamed Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous; it was a omnivore — a giant oviraptorosaur.
- Khaan means 'lord'. It was a Late Cretaceous omnivore from Mongolia — a small oviraptorid.
- Conchoraptor (meaning 'conch thief') was a omnivore that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia — a crestless oviraptorid.
- The Late Cretaceous omnivore Caenagnathus ('recent jaw') lived in what is now North America — a North American oviraptorosaur.
- Elmisaurus (meaning 'foot lizard') was a omnivore that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia — a small oviraptorosaur.
- Hagryphus, whose name means 'Ha's griffin', roamed North America during the Late Cretaceous; it was a omnivore — a southern oviraptorosaur.
- Banji means 'striped crest'. It was a Late Cretaceous omnivore from China — a small crested oviraptorid.
- Heyuannia, whose name means 'from Heyuan', roamed China during the Late Cretaceous; it was a omnivore — a crestless oviraptorid.
- The Late Cretaceous omnivore Wulatelong ('Wulate dragon') lived in what is now China — a small oviraptorid.
- Oviraptor was once wrongly thought to be an egg thief.
- Oviraptor was actually sitting on its own eggs to protect them.
- Oviraptor means 'egg thief', even though it guarded its own eggs.
- Citipati was an Oviraptor relative found sitting on its nest.
- Oviraptor protected its eggs instead of stealing them.