page_title: Oviraptoridae
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Oviraptoridae / Description
caption_attribution_description: A cast of an undescribed oviraptorid skull in the permanent collection of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
context_page_description: Oviraptoridae is a group of bird-like, herbivorous and omnivorous maniraptoran dinosaurs. Oviraptorids are characterized by their toothless, parrot-like beaks and, in some cases, elaborate crests. They were generally small, measuring between one and two metres long in most cases, though some possible oviraptorids were enormous. Oviraptorids are currently known only from the Late Cretaceous of Asia, with the most well-known species and complete specimens found only in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and northwestern China.
context_section_description: The most characteristic feature of this group is the skull structure. Oviraptorids had short snouts and very deep mandibles.  Some taxa (Oviraptor, Citipati, Rinchenia) had a midline crest on top of the skull, resembling that of a cassowary. Other distinguishing characteristics include a bony spike intruding on the mandibular fenestra, nostrils placed very high and far back on the snout, an extremely thin bony bar beneath the eye, and highly pneumatized skull bones.  Like their relatives the caenagnathids, the jaws were edentulous (with no teeth), having instead two small bony projections on the roof of the mouth.
caption: Skull of an undescribed species known as "Ronaldoraptor"
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