HardOviraptor
Oviraptor philoceratops
OH-vih-RAP-tor· “egg thief”
🕰️ Cretaceous🍽️ omnivore🦴 Oviraptoridae
2 m
Length
0.9 m
Height
35 kg
Weight
A feathered, parrot-beaked dinosaur that was wrongly accused of stealing eggs. We now know the 'stolen' eggs were its own — it was actually sitting on its nest like a bird.
When
Late Cretaceous, ~75 million years ago
Found in
Mongolia
Discovered
Henry Fairfield Osborn, 1924
Did you know?
- It was named 'egg thief' by mistake — it was really protecting its own nest.
- It had a toothless beak and a crest on its head, a bit like a cassowary.
- Fossils show it brooded its eggs the same way modern birds do.
Artwork: TotalDino, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.