Dinosaurs Around the World · Drawing 17 of 34
Oviraptor
Asia · Cretaceous
Oviraptor had a toothless beak. Its name means “egg thief,” but it probably did not steal eggs.
Did you know?
The eggs found near it belonged to its own family.
Look together
Can you see a beak or teeth?
An idea to try
Point to the beak, then look at the head’s shape.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Oviraptor philoceratops was initially associated with misidentified eggs. Later oviraptorid fossils clarified nesting behaviour. Its skull is incomplete: the illustrated crest’s complete shape is a restoration, not a certain copy of Citipati.
Sources and illustration notes (1)
Simplified reconstruction. Pose, unpreserved tissues and setting are interpreted. Choose your own colours; animals are not to one scale.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- American Museum of Natural History: Oviraptor philoceratopsThe name means ‘egg thief, fond of ceratopsians’; an embryo found in 1993 showed the ‘stolen’ eggs were oviraptorid eggs, so the animal was probably guarding a nest.
Page prepared on October 4, 2026. Illustrations are simplified for colouring.
This drawing is from the book Dinosaurs Around the World to Colour
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