Open Paleo

Oviraptoridae

Barsbold, 1976 Type genus Oviraptor

Its genera lived 121.4–66.0 million years ago Early Cretaceous–Late Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous stages

Oviraptoridae is a family of bird-like, feathered maniraptoran theropods known only from the Late Cretaceous of Asia, with the finest specimens coming from the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and northwestern China. Most were fairly small animals, roughly one to two meters long, with toothless parrot-like beaks and, in many genera, an elaborate bony head crest resembling that of a cassowary. They were probably herbivorous or omnivorous rather than the egg predators once imagined, and are famous for fossils preserving adults brooding atop circular clutches of eggs, a posture seen today only among birds. The family is traditionally split into two subfamilies: the small, short-armed, mostly crestless Heyuanninae and the larger, long-armed, crested Citipatiinae, with several basal genera falling outside both groups.

Diagnosis

  1. Deep, foreshortened, box-like skull, frequently bearing a tall bony crest
  2. Robust, edentulous, downturned beak with a shortened snout
  3. Pair of tooth-like premaxillary processes projecting into the palate
  4. Shortened neck and tail relative to basal oviraptorosaurs

Clades within Oviraptoridae

Genera placed directly in Oviraptoridae

  • Banji Xu & Han, 2010 Maastrichtian (72.2–66.0 Ma)China
  • Luoyanggia Lü et al., 2009 Aptian–Albian (121.4–100.5 Ma)China
  • Nankangia Lü et al., 2013 Maastrichtian (72.2–66.0 Ma)China
  • Oviraptor Osborn, 1924 Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)Mongolia
  • Wulatelong Xu et al., 2013 Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)China
  • Yulong Lü et al., 2013 Maastrichtian (72.2–66.0 Ma)China

References

  1. Barsbold, R. (1976). A new Late Cretaceous family of small theropods (Oviraptoridae n. fam.) in Mongolia. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR 226(3): 221-223.

    Erected the family Oviraptoridae.

    barsbold1976c
  2. Maryańska, T.; Osmólska, H.; Wolsan, M. (2002). Avialan status for Oviraptorosauria. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47(1): 97-116.

    Defined Oviraptoridae as the most inclusive clade containing Oviraptor philoceratops but not Caenagnathus collinsi, and diagnosed it by a cranially concave pubic shaft.

    maryańska2002a
  3. Funston, G. F.; Chinzorig, T.; Tsogtbaatar, K.; Kobayashi, Y.; Sullivan, C.; Currie, P. J. (2020). A new two-fingered dinosaur sheds light on the radiation of Oviraptorosauria. Royal Society Open Science 7(10): 201184. The Royal Society. doi:10.1098/rsos.201184

    Recovered two subfamilies within Oviraptoridae, Citipatiinae and Heyuanninae, in the analysis describing Oksoko.

    funston2020a