Australia: The Land Where Time Began
Oviraptoridae (“Egg Snatchers”)
This is a rare group from the Cretaceous of North America and Mongolia. They are about human size, with grasping hands, slender legs and distinctive skulls that are short and deep. Their jaws had strong muscles but were toothless (edentulous), being used for crushing. There was a prominent crest, similar to that seen in hadrosaurs, on the skull that housed a large nasal cavity. An oviraptor has been found on top of its eggs, apparently brooding them like a bird. As well as indicating that brooding behaviour evolved before birds evolved, it also indicates that they may have been endothermic as the eggs of ectotherms don't need to be kept warm by body heat.- Oviraptor philoceratops
- Caenagnathus collinsi
- Incisivosaurus gauthieri (Family Indeterminate ?) Early Cretaceous DinoData
- Avimimus portentosus Late cretaceous
Links
Sources & Further reading
Long, John A, 1998, Dinosaurs of Australia and New Zealand, University of New South Wales Press.
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