Oviraptor << OH vuh `rap` tuhr >> was a dinosaur that resembled a bird called the cassowary. Oviraptor belonged to a group called theropods, dinosaurs that ate meat and walked on two legs. Oviraptor lived in what is now central Asia from 100 million to 65 million years ago.
The dinosaur grew about 6 feet (1.8 meters) long. It had a bony crest crowning the top of the head. Oviraptor had a beaked mouth with no teeth. A bony peg in the roof of its mouth could have served to stab or crush food. The dinosaur ran swiftly on long hind legs. It had large claws on its forelimbs.
Oviraptor was discovered in 1923. It received its name, which means egg robber, because the first Oviraptor skeleton was found atop a nest of eggs. Scientists believed it was feeding on the eggs. However, later discoveries showed that the Oviraptor had been a parent tending its nest. What Oviraptor ate is not certain. Some scientists think it may have used its beak to break open the shells of marine or aquatic invertebrates for food.
In 1993, fossil hunters found another skeleton of an oviraptor on top of its nest. This fossil was preserved in exactly the same position as that of a modern bird. The dinosaur sat in the middle of its ring of eggs to protect them. It also may have kept them warm. This discovery suggested that dinosaurs took better care of their young than previously believed. It also strengthened the view that birds are closely related to certain meat-eating dinosaurs.
See also: Bird (The evolution of birds); Dinosaur (Kinds of dinosaurs); Theropod.
