She was sitting on her nest keeping her eggs warm, just like modern birds do, when disaster struck
Discovered: Gobi Desert, Mongolia, 1994
Age: 83 to 66 million years
Location: Mongolian Dinosaur Museum
The first oviraptor was discovered in Mongolia in 1922. It was given its name, which means "egg thief", because it was found near a nest of what appeared to be Protoceratops eggs.
In 1993, however, Mark Norell of the American Museum of Natural History found a fossilised embryo in an identical egg. He recognised it as a kind of oviraptor, suggesting the original thief was in fact a parent.
The next year, Norell was back in Mongolia when he spotted bones and claws protruding from the sand. But Norell had limited space in his trucks. The bulky fossil might have stayed where it was ...
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