Re: *Oviraptor*

[dbensen <dbensen@gotnet.net>]

>>I have two main questions:

  How closely related is *Oviraptor* to *Caudipteryx*?
(This would affect the feathering I put on the arms
and tail; i.e., short "wings" primarily for display.)<<

My understanding is that Caudipteryx is something like an ancestral
Oviraptor (very arguably) and that the group evolved first into the
Caenagnathids, and then into the oviraptors.  The caenagnathids died out
(or at least, we havn't found any) in Asia by the late Creatacous,
possibly becuase of the dessertification of that portion of the
continent, leaving the oviraptors.  As far as feathers go, they could
well have had the display "wings" of Caudipteryx, but probably to a
lesser extent as, one, being predators, they probably had naked lower
arms just like vultures have naked necks, and two, they had very nice
display structures in their crests, and may not have needed "wings".

Dan