Open Paleo

Oviraptor

Osborn, 1924 OH-vi-RAP-tor /ˈoʊvɪræptər/

From Latin ovum ('egg') and raptor ('thief'), meaning 'egg thief', based on the initial (later revised) interpretation that it was stealing eggs

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

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.

Diagnosis

  1. Rostrum and lower jaw proportionately more elongate than in other oviraptorids — a plesiomorphic condition suggesting Oviraptor is the most basal oviraptorid.
  2. Region anterior to the antorbital fenestra, and the antorbital fenestra itself, longitudinally elongate, rather than foreshortened as in other oviraptorids.
  3. Dentary anterior to the coronoid process proportionately longer than in Citipati, its dorsal edge descending less steeply anterior to the mandibular fenestra.
  4. Maxilla relatively longer than in other oviraptorids (though shorter than in caenagnathid outgroups).
  5. Anterior end of the jugal not extending forward beneath the antorbital fenestra (as it does in Citipati), resembling Khaan.

Species

Oviraptor philoceratops Osborn, 1924

Type species

From Ancient Greek 'philos' meaning 'lover of' and 'keratops' meaning 'horned face', intended to convey a fondness for ceratopsian eggs, based on the initial mistaken interpretation that the holotype was stealing eggs from a Protoceratops nest.

Holotype
AMNH 6517 , American Museum of Natural History
Material
Partial skull (crushed mediolaterally and incompletely preserved) with an associated postcranial skeleton, preserved together on the original slab; preserved cranial elements include the mandible, partial frontals and parietals, braincase, quadrates, pterygoids, and jugals.
Horizon
Bayn Dzak Member, Djadokhta Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Bayan Zag, Ömnögovi, Mongolia

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Fenestrosaurus junior subjective Osborn previously reported the taxon as 'Fenestrosaurus philoceratops'; the designation was later discredited and the specimen is referable to Oviraptor.

Notable specimens

  • MPC-D 100/42

    Paleontological Center, Mongolian Academy of Sciences complementary

    Fairly complete tall-crested individual from the Djadokhta Formation referred to Oviraptor by Barsbold (1981); as the crestless holotype is fragmentary, it long served as the taxon's prime depiction. Clark and colleagues (2002) found it does not belong to Oviraptor, more closely resembling Citipati.

    Barsbold (1981)Clark et al. (2002)

  • AMNH 33092

    American Museum of Natural History Found 1923 by Central Asiatic Expedition ontogeny

    A nestling or very small juvenile composed of a right tibia and metatarsals III and IV, reported by Norell and colleagues in 2018. Found in association with the holotype and likely part of the nest, its 5.87 cm tibia indicates a much smaller individual than the holotype, supporting parental care.

    Norell et al. (2018)

References

  1. Osborn, H. F. (1924). Three new Theropoda, Protoceratops zone, central Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 144: 1-12. osborn1924b
  2. Clark, J. M.; Norell, M. A.; Rowe, T. (2002). Cranial anatomy of Citipati osmolskae (Theropoda, Oviraptorosauria), and a reinterpretation of the holotype of Oviraptor philoceratops. American Museum Novitates (3364): 1-24. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2002)364<0001:CAOCOT>2.0.CO;2

    Reinterprets the crushed holotype skull AMNH 6517 as the most basal oviraptorid (elongate rostrum and dentary) and removes the crested IGM 100/42 from Oviraptor, reassigning it toward Citipati.

    clark2002a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Illustrated by E. Viola.

    jones2026c
  4. Barsbold, R. (1981). Bezzubyye khishchnyye dinozavry Mongolii [Toothless carnivorous dinosaurs of Mongolia]. Sovmestnaia Sovetsko-Mongol'skaia Paleontologicheskaia Ekspeditsiia Trudy 15: 28-39. barsbold1981a
  5. Norell, M. A.; Balanoff, A. M.; Barta, D. E.; Erickson, G. M. (2018). A second specimen of Citipati osmolskae associated with a nest of eggs from Ukhaa Tolgod, Omnogov Aimag, Mongolia. American Museum Novitates (3899): 1-44. doi:10.1206/3899.1

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    norell2018a