Brooding ovis



The exhibition is very strong on oviraptorids and their ilk. There is an array of a computer regenerated skull seen from dozens of different angles. There is the associated "Sid & Nancy" pair, which are said to be caenagnathids (I think) - at least they have much milder hand claws than certain other ovis. There are also not one but two big brooders:

This first one is I think the one they call "Big Momma" as seen in Sci. Am Feb '98 for example. I first met her in the Chinese dinosaurs exhibition at the London Nat Hist Mus. This view shows the extremely vorpal hand claws, and also the foot which is defiantly un-arctometatarsalian, unlike certain things suspected of being rather ovi-ish.

This one, whom I call "Big Auntie", is even better in that she hasn't had her top half eroded away. It is a particularly beautiful specimen because it is the only ovi of any kind anywhere that I know of that shows the uncinate processes (those things sprouting diagonally upwards from the ribs). Dinobirds with ossified uncinates form a clade don't you know, including only droms, ovis and moderns. One day the world will know. Anyway, the fighting Veloci. also shows them very nicely, though none of my pictures happens to include them.

Although dromaeosaurs have big hand claws, some of the ovis have very much stronger hands and claws. Both these forms of dinobird must have used their hands in conjunction with their feet for killing their prey. The droms., as explained elsewhere in this gallery, pulled with the hands and slashed with the foot/feet. Some ovis caught their prey with their hands and stood on it, while pulling up with their hand claws - unless they used the "ripping a telephone directory in half" motion, though I would consider this less likely. (Other ovis of course remain enigmatic in their habits.)



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