ovoraptor brooding

["A. H. Brush" <BRUSH@UConnVM.UConn.Edu>]

No modern birds, and presumable no fossil one, lays all the eggs in a
clutch at one time. It was implied here that the size of the ovoraptor
clutch was too great to be hauled around prior to laying. That is true.
  Birds lay the eggs in each clutch sequentially. An average bird produces
an egg in about 24 hr. When the clutch is complete incubation begins. One
exception is that some species begin to inbucate as they produce. This
results in sequential hatching.
  There is no reason that ovoraptor waas different. Among extant reptiles,
there are examples of animals retaining the eggs and laying then in one
sitting. Sea turtles come to mind. But these are very different ecological
circumstances than land dwelling animals.
   Ovoraptor easily may have required a week or more to produce the full
 clutch. Nothing unusual about this.
         Best to all for the new year.

                                  Alan