Oviraptor Facts for Kids
OH-vih-RAP-ter · its name means “egg thief”
Its name means egg thief, but it was probably a good parent.
- 📏 6.6 ft2 m1 long
- ⚖️ weight: not yet checked
- 🕰️ 80 million years ago80 million years ago2
- 🍽️ plants and animals
Oviraptor means egg thief. But it was probably not a thief at all. It was most likely sitting on its own nest.
Oviraptor walked on two legs and had a toothless beak, long legs and arms with three clawed fingers. Its first skeleton was found next to a nest of eggs, and scientists guessed it was stealing them, so they named it egg thief. They were wrong, and poor Oviraptor kept the name.
Oviraptor's first skeleton was found in the Gobi Desert, lying beside a nest of eggs that scientists thought belonged to another dinosaur, Protoceratops. So it was given a name that means egg thief. Years later, scientists found a baby inside an egg of the same kind, and close cousins of Oviraptor sitting on nests of their own, with their arms spread around the eggs, like a bird. So Oviraptor was probably a good parent. The name was a mistake, but science keeps the first name given.
Every dinosaur number is scientists’ best guess from bones, so each one says where it came from.
How big was Oviraptor?
Oviraptor in numbers
| Length (nose to tail) | 6.6 ft2 m1scientists' estimate |
|---|---|
| Height at the hips | no checked number yet |
| Weight | no checked number yet |
| When it lived | 80 million years ago80 million years ago2scientists' estimate |
| What it ate | small animals and plants; scientists are not sure |
| Fossils found in | the Gobi Desert in Mongolia |
| What kind | a theropod: a two-legged dinosaur, the group birds came from |
Wow!
- Its name means egg thief, but that was a mistake.
- Cousins were found sitting on their own nests, like birds.
- It had a toothless beak.
🦴 Oviraptor’s bones
Books about Oviraptor, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about Oviraptor for free.
Where was the land back then?
The continents were in different places when Oviraptor lived, 80 million years ago. Open Planet Earth, pick Drifting continents, and slide back in time to see where the land was.
Its neighbours in time
Where these numbers come from
- Wikidata, from the Natural History Museum's Dino Directory, checked 30 October 2026.
- US Geological Survey, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, Oviraptor (Q131070), checked 30 October 2026.
To read more: the Natural History Museum’s Dino Directory (see also, not copied).