Details
Oviraptor nest of 12 eggs in a partial clutch on the original matrix, or fossil sediments now hardened to limestone, over the last seventy million years. There where more eggs from this nest which would have completed a circular lay pattern, the ovoid eggs laid at an angle from the centre. The eggs were laid concentrically in pairs, and are inclined to the ground at low angles, sloping away from the nest centre, this is familiar to this genus of oviraptor dinosaur and several egg nest discoveries. Overall the eggs exhibit pale tones, with traces of light maroon, yellows and greys colour. All are of very good preservation and condition each egg having a fairly unchanged form, i.e. the eggs are still inflated in shape, not badly squashed, so display a three-dimensional shape true to the time they were laid down by the raptor dinosaur in the Cretaceous period. Some eggshell has been eroded away which is entirely expected of dinosaur eggs of this age.
The name Oviraptor means "egg-seizer" in Latin because the first fossil remains of the genus were found atop a nest of eggs. As further dinosaur skeletons and bones were unearthed it became apparent that these Oviraptors were actually brooding over their own eggs. As well as this familiarly bird-like nesting behaviour, some species are believed to have boasted a full-body covering of feathers.
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