Conchoraptor gracilis

Slender Conch Plunderer

Conchoraptor gracilis
(Barsbold, 1986)

In the late Cretaceous the western half of the continent of Asia is covered in an extensive, desert-like scrub. This environment is home to a surprisingly wide range of dinosaurs. The Asian, bird-like theropods and theropod-like birds of the Jurassic (like Caudipteryx and Sinosauropteryx) have diversified into a number of large animals, among them the strange alvarezsaurs and the equally strange oviraptorosaurs.

The oviraptorosaurs are divided into two groups, the oviraptorids and the caenagnathids. Both groups have been very succsessful in Asia, but the oviraptorids have become flamboyant in their diversification, some members of the clade sporting giant claws and great head crests. Conchoraptor gracilis is the most primitive of these, probably the most closely related to the ancestral oviraptorid. It shares the round head of all oviraptorids, but lacks the large crest of the more derived members of this clade.

The skull of C. gracilis has only one distinguishing feature, a slightly enlarged nasal ridge. This ridge is covered with thick scales that make a pad that the animal uses to push against rivals in fights for dominance among its own species (Headden). This nasal ridge is greatly enlarged in some genera (namely Oviraptor) and has become a passive display devise. The rest of the skull of C. gracilis is strictly utilitarian with large eyes, an short muzzle, and a heavy beak. It is more powerfully built than that of other oviraptorosaurs and the parrot-like beak has a fairly powerful bite. C. gracilis, can eat many foods, from small animals to nuts and is the most omnivorous of its clade.

Thanks to Ray Stanford, of cource.
Other sites containing pertinent information:

T. Mike Keesey's Conchoraptor page
Jaime A. Headden's Conchoraptor page (wonderful, well-written, well illustraited and thorough information).
John R. Hutchinson's oviraptorosaur page
The Russian Dinosaur exposition's Conchoraptor page
DinoData's Conchoraptor page

� Daniel Bensen 2000
Back to OPUS: Dinosaur
This species is included in a larger painting.