# Oviraptor philoceratops

> The "egg thief", a beaked, feathered theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia, found in 1923 lying on a nest of eggs. Later finds showed the nest was its own: it was brooding, not stealing.

- Classification: Dinosauria (clade) > Saurischia (clade) > Theropoda (clade) > Coelurosauria (clade) > Maniraptora (clade) > Oviraptorosauria (infraorder) > Oviraptoridae (family) > Oviraptor (genus) > Oviraptor philoceratops (species)
- Length: 1.6–2 m
- Hip height: 0.7–0.9 m
- Mass: 33–40 kg
- Age: 75–71 million years ago (Late Cretaceous)
- Fossils found in: Djadokhta Formation (Ömnögovi Province); Mongolia
- Diet: omnivore
- Described: Henry Fairfield Osborn, 1924

Canonical page: https://dinodex.club/dinosaurs/oviraptor-philoceratops
Last updated: 2026-09-27

## Overview

Oviraptor philoceratops lived among the dunes of the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia in the Late Cretaceous. The American Museum's Central Asiatic Expedition found its only skeleton at the Flaming Cliffs in 1923, lying over a nest of about fifteen eggs, and Henry Fairfield Osborn named it in 1924.

Osborn thought the eggs belonged to Protoceratops and named it "egg thief, fond of ceratopsians", while warning that the name might be misleading. In 1994 an oviraptorid embryo was found inside the same type of egg, and in 1995 a related oviraptorid was found sitting on its nest like a brooding bird (Norell et al. 1994, 1995). The type Oviraptor was most likely a parent that died brooding its own eggs.

It was a small, toothless theropod, about 1.6 to 2 m long, with a deep beak, long arms with three clawed fingers and, like its relatives, feathers. The holotype skull is badly crushed, but related oviraptorids suggest a crest.

## Name meaning

"Egg seizer" or "egg thief", from Latin ovum and raptor; philoceratops, "fond of ceratopsians", for the eggs once thought to be Protoceratops's (Osborn 1924).

## Sources

1. (2026). Paleobiology Database: Oviraptor philoceratops occurrence 1244254 (collection 46152). The Paleobiology Database (paleobiodb.org), data service 1.2, accessed 2026-09-23. https://paleobiodb.org/data1.2/colls/list.json?coll_id=46152&show=paleoloc,strat,loc,ref,geo&pgm=gplates&vocab=pbdb
2. (2026). Wikipedia: Oviraptor. Wikipedia (English), accessed 2026-09-24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oviraptor
3. Dashzeveg, D., Dingus, L., Loope, D. B., Swisher, C. C., III, Dulam, T. & Sweeney, M. R. (2005). New stratigraphic subdivision, depositional environment, and age estimate for the Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation, southern Ulan Nur Basin, Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 3498: 1-31. https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0df4baac-12e4-44ae-8ef7-3328b22e8604/content
4. Norell, M. A., Clark, J. M., Chiappe, L. M. & Dashzeveg, D. (1995). A nesting dinosaur. Nature 378: 774-776. https://doi.org/10.1038/378774a0
5. Norell, M. A., Clark, J. M., Dashzeveg, D., Barsbold, R., Chiappe, L. M., Davidson, A. R., McKenna, M. C., Perle, A. & Novacek, M. J. (1994). A theropod dinosaur embryo and the affinities of the Flaming Cliffs dinosaur eggs. Science 266: 779-782. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.266.5186.779
6. Osborn, H. F. (1924). Three new Theropoda, Protoceratops zone, central Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 144: 1-12.
7. Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd edition). Princeton University Press.

---

Cite as: "Oviraptor philoceratops". DinoDex. https://dinodex.club/dinosaurs/oviraptor-philoceratops (updated 2026-09-27).