Lot 1131
Nest of Four Oviraptor Eggs. Oviraptors were strange-looking theropod dinosaurs, toothless with a strong beak and most interestingly found to sit on their eggs like birds until they hatched. The name Oviraptor means egg stealer and they were misnamed this in 1920 when they were first discovered because it was believed they were eating the eggs they were found with instead of sitting on them. The four eggs in this partial nest are fully inflated with some cracks in the thin shell and are 6.5 x 3 inches in a 10 x 10 inch red limestone matrix. The two best of the fully exposed eggs have between 80-90 % of their original light to dark gray black egg shell with the third exposed egg containing about 60% original shell. The fourth egg is still 75% buried in the matrix under the best top two eggs. Oviraptors laid their eggs in two layers one on top of the other as this partially buried egg illustrates. There are at least three species of Oviraptors and they can only be identified by the size of their eggs. These eggs belong to the largest species Citipati which was made famous by the important discovery in 1995 of a mother Oviraptor sitting on a nest of eggs and currently on display at the Museum Of Natural History in New York.
Add $40 for domestic shipping.
Estimated Value $3,000 - 3,500.
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