The Hell Creek Oviraptorosaur — What Does It Mean For Chirostenotes pergracilis?

Since the 1990′s, a few specimens have been kicking around of a particularly large oviraptorosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Unlike the specimens that form the backbone of the Chirostenotes/Caenagnathus complex, these specimens come from the Maastrichtian, and unlike the similar material recovered from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation and elsewhere, this material comes from the late Maastrichtian. The Hell Creek, to be precise.

Expanding the Known Oviraptoverse

Normally I wait a few days to post something, but as the last post is a technical post that only seems to get the attention of func-morph people, I’ll throw some meat out here. This one comes courtesy Andrea Cau of Theropoda (warning: in Italian, but Andrea provides a translator link to Google). Two oviraptorosaurs are now freshly named, one from southern Alberta, and the other from New Mexico, and they deserve a few comments.

A Cretaceous Parrot?

UCMP 143274, Stidham's Cretaceous "parrot." Schematic views top left and both left and right, drawing in lateral view in top left. From top to bottom, left to right: dorsal view, left lateral view, ventral view, medial (lingual) view from the lateral side. Missing margins are dotted in.