Re: Oviraptor

[Bill Adlam <wa105@mead.anglia.ac.uk>]

Jaime wrote:

>  All extant plant eaters, sans birds, have teeth. Birds (the best
>  example to use, anyway) eat leaves and other plants by plucking with 
>  long, pointy bills, or shearing with smooth or serrated, thick 
>  bills. No double-curved billed birds (such as falconiforms,
>  referring to the mandible) are herbivorous.

Hold on.  Tortoises have no teeth.  And I'm not sure what you mean by 
double-curved, but parrots' bills are strongly curved.

>  Insects and fish are also diets possible for the oviraptors, just no 
>  proof. The jaws are hooked bellow and cupped above, good for
>  clamping onto something, especially in the little palatine teeth
>  could grab into the soft innards or flesh.

Insectivorous mammals and squamates retain their teeth for crunching 
exoskeletons, except for several specialised long-snouted, long-tongued 
mammals.  Most piscivores have many pointy teeth to give the best grip on 
slippery prey, but Pteranodon is an exception.  I don't expect there were 
enough fish available to support the Oviraptor populations.

Oviraptor's beak looks a bit like a flamingo's.  Has someone mentioned that 
before, or is it my usual sense of deja vu?  However, I am pretty sure that 
Oviraptor did not filter feed upside down in hypersaline lakes.

                                                        All the best,

                                                                        Bill