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What Do You Mean "Egg Thief?"
In the 1920s, paleontologists discovered many fossilized eggs that they thought belonged to Protoceratops in the Gobi Desert. So, when they found the first-known Oviraptor fossil lying on a nest of eggs, these scientists guessed it was robbing a Protoceratops nest. They imagined that this Oviraptor was killed by a sandstorm while trying to steal the eggs. Oviraptor philoceratops means "egg robber that loves ceratopians." However, in 1993, Mark Norell found a fossil egg that matched the "stolen" eggs from the 1920s. It contained a tiny oviraptorid. Now they knew that the first Oviraptor wasn't stealing Protoceratops eggs. Instead, it was protecting its own!
Hometown: St. Paul, Minnesota; raised in Los Angeles, California
Position: Chairman and Curator, Division of Paleontology
Education: Ph.D., Yale University
Known for: discovering the nesting Oviraptor; co-leader of expeditions
Publications: Discovering Dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History
Mark's discoveries of Oviraptor nesting behavior support the idea that:
all dinosaurs could fly
modern birds are dinosaurs
dinosaurs ate only plants
Correct!
Mark's research reinforces the connection between dinosaurs and birds.
“
There are scientists in our Ornithology Department investigating the 15,000 species of birds today. That's 15,000 different kinds of living dinosaurs.
„
Mark Norell
paleontologist
“
When you go outside, check out the birds. It doesn't take science fiction to create the Age of Dinosaurs. We still live in it!
„
Mark Norell
paleontologist