VR Jurassic Encyclopedia #8
Oviraptor dinosaur facts VR 360 video education
The next video in the VR Jurassic Encyclopedia series is now available on youtube. In this video, we bring you new and unknown facts about the dinosaur that is Oviraptor.
It may come as a surprise to many of you, but Oviraptor was actually not an egg eater. It had more in common with the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex. Let’s find out why it’s named Oviraptor (egg seizer) and which animal is actually considered to be its ancestor.
The name Oviraptor comes from Latin, and means ‘egg seizer‘. This is the name that palaeontologists gave to this dinosaur.
The first specimen of this small meat-eating predator was discovered by an American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1922. The fossilized skeleton belonged to a new genus which he called Oviraptor (meaning egg thief ).
In the series VR Jurassic Encyclopedia, we also cover the topic of dinosaur size and weight. The weight of this dinosaur has been estimated to about 500 kg, while the length is estimated at 3m (9.8ft).
Oviraptor was a very bird like dinosaur, but not an actual ancestor of birds. The main reason why it appears so bird-like is its discovery location which was close to China’s ancient lake bed. During that period, the area was covered by marshy swamps.
As you can see in VR Jurassic Encyclopedia #8, that it has very unusual features for a meat-eater. It has no teeth in its jaws! This is surprising because other dinosaurs that are closely related to Oviraptor have teeth. Another peculiarity is that the Oviraptor has long arms with very strong claws.
Claws are usually associated with animals that either climb trees or dig for their food. The mainstream opinion is that this dinosaur used its strong arms and claws to rip open the hard shells of the eggs it ate. However, this theory has been questioned by palaeontologists recently.
These are just a small portion of the facts you can find in our VR 360 video. Please watch the video for crazy facts about the dinosaur Oviraptor and continue our VR 360 video education about dinosaurs.