Re: Oviraptor

["John V Jackson" <jjackson@interalpha.co.uk>]

-----Original Message---Date: 15 March 1998 18:03
--
From: Capmaker2 <Capmaker2@aol.com>
To: dinosaur@usc.edu <dinosaur@usc.edu>


>Was the oviraptor an omnivore, carnivore or herbivore.

>Byron Dole<


Not too late for this thread am I?

I?m sure I?ve seen a mystery implement on ?Antiques Roadshow? which looked
just like the business parts of an Oviraptor beak (complete with rocking
motion) and was designed in the 19th Century for opening eggs.

As for their arms, I still can?t  get over the fact that of all the birdlike
theropods etc, Oviraptor still looks to have the strongest arms and
shoulders of all, even more than Archy!  The hand claws are huge, larger
relative to the body than Velociraptor?s (and I think Oviraptors tended to
be bigger than V?s especially in Mongolia).  The O?s claws looked more
strongly built than V?s which had a longer pointed bit.  However, since most
people think V. could hold it?s own weight by its hand claws - O. must have
been doing some really heavyweight tugging with them.  I would guess not
just hanging but ripping.

Hand claws can be used for running on (but not in O?s case), climbing (not
O - few trees there), digging (wrong design) or food processing.  They look
just like predator?s claws - I can?t think of a herbivore that used/uses
claws like that on it?s food.  Given that the beak had some specialised
purpose, and the feet incidentally are faster and  less vicious than a V?s -
the only rough meat processor available was the hands (as in humans).  The
only technique available for killing and dismembering would be ?stand on and
rip up? - like modern raptors but with the hands instead of the beak (though
of course modern raptors stab with their feet too).  I haven?t imagined the
?telephone directory tearing?/?chest expander? method(s) being used much
(though maybe they/it deserve/s some consideration).

It was recently said on the list that ostriches? main predation problem was
with chicks and eggs.  Presumably O. could have specialised in this - arms
and hands perfectly built for cradle snatching, and faster than anything it
couldn?t fight.

Incidentally, the O. illustration in the Feb Sci Am can been seen, by simply
comparing the brooding skeleton photo alongside it, to have the hands too
short and the feet too long.  The arms are also a little too puny to be
believed (the bones only just fit).


< Also, is this speculation or generally accepted as true. >

Everything on this list is Gospel.

John V Jackson    jjackson@interalpha.co.uk