Lot 1478
Rare Partial Nest Of Three Oviraptor Eggs. This original partial nest of three complete Oviraptor eggs is 70-80 million years old, from the Djadokhta formation of Ukhaa Tolgod in Mongolia's Gobi Desert. The eggs are 6.5 inches long and belong to the largest of the two Oviraptor species called Citipati. Citipati Oviraptorids were made famous by a 1995 discovery of a fossilized nest of eggs with a mother Citipati sitting on top in a brooding position. Now displayed in the New York Museum of Natural History, it was revolutionary to discover a dinosaur perching on its eggs like a bird and only later was it discovered that Oviraptors such as Citipati also had bird-like feathers. The name Oviraptor means "egg stealer" and when first discovered in the 1920s, the paleontologists believed that they were eating eggs that they thought belonged to an early horned dinosaur named Protoceratops. Later, an Ociraptor embryo inside one of the elongated oval eggs proved them wrong. Citipati eggs are ratite in texture and have a very thin shell which is why they are rarely found complete. This nest is 14 x 7 inches on its original red sandstone base and contains three complete eggs, 6.5 inches long and 3 inches wide, with at least 80% original shell. The shell is a gray color with a thin layer of matrix covering part of the original unhatched shell. Single Citipati eggs are getting harder to locate, but multiple unhatched eggs are only available when collectors or fossil dealers are willing to sell their treasured partial nests.
Add $40.00 for domestic shipping.
Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,000.
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