OVIRAPTORS IN THE NEWS

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

Just for the record, and concerning recent articles in newspapers etc...

Thus far I have done one interview with a newspaper reporter regarding 
_Thecocoelurus_. I made it clear that, while oviraptorosaurs were 
'traditionally' interpreted as egg-eaters, the discovery of brooding 
specimens has negated part of the evidence for this. None of the 
articles I have seen mention this, going instead with the old 'egg stealer' 
thing. I also said in the same interview that 'it has been >suggested<' 
that oviraptorosaurs ate shellfish, plants, small vertebrates etc - I 
certainly did not state that oviraptorosaurs perhaps ate all of these 
things. There are other obvious errors in the respective newspaper 
pieces - just do keep in mind that they result from sloppy journalism 
and not from the information I provided and that quotes are very much 
paraphrased.

Finally, it is also unfair that some of the journalists wrote of this new 
paper as being produced by 'Dr Dave Martill and his phd student'. I am 
first author and did most of the work, something Dave is more than 
happy to agree with.

Oh yeah, and _Proceratosaurus_ does appear to have had some sort of 
crest on (at least) its premaxilla. I have spent a lot of time with the 
specimen.


Darren Naish
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
University of Portsmouth
Burnaby Building
Burnaby Road                           email: darren.naish@port.ac.uk
Portsmouth UK                          tel: 023 92846045                   
PO1 3QL                                www.palaeobiology.co.uk