Genus
Valid Extinct

Oviraptor

Osborn 1924
Etymology voleur d'œufs

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.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
3
Group
Dinosaures
Omnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Oviraptor
click to enlarge
Title: The dinosaur book : the ruling reptiles and their relatives Identifier: bookruli00colb (find matches) Year: 1951 (1950s) Authors: Colbert, Edwin H. (Edwin Harris), 1905-2001; Knight, Charles Robert, 1874-1953; American Museum of Natural History Subjects: Dinosaurs; Reptiles, Fossil Publisher: New York : Published for the American Museum of Natural History by McGraw-Hill Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library Digitizing Sponsor: IMLS / LSTA / METRO View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: ' Text Appearing After Image: bone A typical example of the parts usually found fossilized: portions of the skeleton of a small dinosaur from Mongolia A.M.N.H. photographs One of the rarest fossils: a dino- saur egg over 60 million years old, compared with a hen's egg (left) and an alligator egg (right) Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work. © Internet Archive Book Images · Public domain · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Theropoda Unranked clade
Neotheropoda Unranked clade
Averostra Unranked clade
Tetanurae Unranked clade
Coelurosauria Unranked clade
Maniraptora Unranked clade
Oviraptorosauria Infraorder
Oviraptoridae Family
Oviraptor Genus
Measurements
Length
1,9 m
Oviraptor philoceratops 
2 m
Mass
22 kg
Oviraptor philoceratops 
Fossil sites 3 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇲🇳 Mongolia
2
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
1
Geological formations
Dabrazhin
1
Temporal distribution
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
2
Coniacian (89.8–85.7 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Oviraptor philoceratops 84 Ma
News 2
Scientists recreated a dinosaur nest and solved a 70-million-year-old mystery
nest reproduction Dinosauria Oviraptor bird
A team of researchers recreated a life-size oviraptor nest to investigate how these bird-like dinosaurs incubated their eggs millions of years ago. By combining physical experiments with heat transfer simulations, they discovered that oviraptors likely relied on both their own body heat and warmth from the sun.
01/07/2026 sciencedaily
Scientists recreated a dinosaur nest to solve a 70-million-year-old mystery
nest Dinosauria Oviraptor bird
Scientists recreated a life-size oviraptor nest to understand how these dinosaurs hatched their eggs. Their experiments showed the parent likely couldn’t heat all the eggs directly, meaning sunlight played a key role. This uneven heating could cause eggs in the same nest to hatch at different times. The results suggest oviraptors used a hybrid incubation method unlike modern birds.
19/03/2026 sciencedaily
Images 2
Bibliography
Original description
H. F. Osborn. 1924. Three new Theropoda, Protoceratops zone, central Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 144:1-12
Bibliography (3)
Q. Wu, J. K. O’Connor, and S. Wang, Z. Zhou. 2024. Transformation of the pectoral girdle in pennaraptorans: critical steps in the formation of the modern avian shoulder joint. PeerJ 12:e16960 DOI ↗
A. N. Riabinin. 1938. Some results of the studies of the Upper Cretaceous dinosaurian fauna from the vicinity of the station Sary-Agach, South Kazakhstan. Problems of Paleontology 4:125-135
H. F. Osborn. 1924. Three new Theropoda, Protoceratops zone, central Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 144:1-12