Shell Stealing Dinosaurs

Known from the Nemegt Formation of Maastrichtian soils of Mongolia, specifically the Red Beds of Hermiin Tsav, the conch stealing oviraptorid Conchoraptor gracilis. Barsbold 1986 described a partial skeleton and skull of an oviraptor which, like its cousins also discovered by Barsbold and the Polish-Mongolian expeditions of the 1970's, is a victim of the hypotheses of many scientists that the oviraptorid dinosaurs were stealing eggs rather than incubating eggs. The name Conchoraptor reflects Barsbold's hypothesis that the animal's lack of dentition was indicative of a diet that was rooted in mussels and other shellfish rather than eggs. This dietary hypothesis was unpopular at the time, though we now know that oviraptors, whether they fed on mussels and clams or not, were not feeding on the eggs that they were found with.The lack of crest, seen in this representation of the skull, is thought to have been a result of immaturity in the described holotype. This hypothesis will be explored during the week as we explore Conchoraptor.

©Jaime A. Headden
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