The Dinosaur - Oviraptor

With a name that means 'egg thief' the Oviraptor has earned itself a menacing reputation.

But did it really steal the eggs of other dinosaurs or is it the victim of a wrongful accusation?.

The Oviraptor got its name because when scientists first found an Oviraptor in Mongolia in 1924 its remains were lying on a batch of eggs thought to belong to a Protoceratops. The scientists thought the Oviraptor had stolen the Protoceratops eggs.

But wait! There's more to this story. Advances in science since then have revealed that the eggs were not from a Protoceratops. It is now known the Oviraptor was lying on its own unhatched eggs.

Paleontologists now concede that, unlike most dinosaurs, the Oviraptor was a good mummy who took special care of its eggs and may have even looked after its babies once they hatched. And they had big families to care for! The Oviraptor laid 15-20 eggs!

As a carnivore, the Oviraptor was a fast-moving hunter that chased smaller reptiles and insects which it killed with its three-sharp claws on each hand, each with nails about 8cm long. It also had three-toed feet with claws and powerful jaw muscles which allowed it to crush hard objects such as arm bones. Ouch!